The {Economic} Group of West African States (ECOWAS) might have to overview its transhumance protocol, which allows cross-border cattle grazing however has inadvertently created alternatives for terrorists posing as herdsmen to incite violence and ethnic tensions throughout the area.
This concern was raised by coverage consultants Dr. Ben Nwosu and Dr. Ndu Nwokolo of Nextier of their current coverage transient, ‘ECOWAS at 50: Altering Panorama of Regional Politics, Insecurity and Coping Capability.’
In accordance with the doc, Nwosu and Nwokolo famous, “ECOWAS ought to revisit its protocol on transhumance, which helps cross-border cattle grazing and affords a window for terrorists who disguise themselves as herdsmen to unfold violence and ethnic strife within the area. The union ought to both withdraw or make the Transhumance protocol extra stringent and assist fashionable strategies of animal husbandry to mitigate the free motion of ethnicity-driven terrorists.”
Additionally they famous the necessity for ECOWAS to discover navy cooperation amongst its members to combat inside terrorism and violence and scale down or fully cease extreme exterior navy involvement, as they construct cycles of dependency that may proceed to stunt the expansion of the sub-region.
ECOWAS ought to set up an intelligence fusion centre to curb terrorism
Along with curbing violence, the authors famous the necessity for ECOWAS to ascertain an intelligence fusion centre to curb the resurgence of terrorism within the sub-region.
In accordance with them, “ECOWAS ought to contemplate establishing an intelligence fusion centre concerning the dominant types of violence within the area, particularly terrorism and agrarian conflicts and use intelligence from such centres to help particular person member states and in addition perform coordinated actions in opposition to violent {groups} within the area.”
In accordance with the report, farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria alone are estimated to have price over 60,000 lives between 2015 and 2024.
Additional killings of greater than 150 people passed off on the eve of the 2023 Christmas in Plateau State.
The identical carnage continues within the Benue Valley of Nigeria’s Center Belt area.
The authors famous that a number of opinions “attribute the violence to jihadist Fulani herdsmen, a few of whom are believed to have migrated into Nigeria from different elements of Africa.”
The report additional famous that Boko Haram actions gained new momentum within the North East of Nigeria, overrunning navy outposts and taking on extra territories.
In accordance with the report, “This provides to the burden of over two million individuals who’ve been compelled to Internally displaced individuals (IDP) camps within the area, in addition to greater than 35,000 lives that had been misplaced to their assaults.”
Latest reviews point out that over 2.2 million individuals have been displaced on account of farmer-herder conflicts between 2019 and 2025, exacerbating meals insecurity and worsening the general safety scenario throughout the nation.
In accordance with SBM Intelligence, a data-driven analysis agency, these clashes have developed past land disputes and are actually more and more linked to organized crimes.
