The 11-year conflict in northeastern Nigeria has put a stop to herdsmen and cattle traders travelling too far from Maiduguri in Borno State to buy livestock because it’s just too dangerous.
Kyari Tijjani, a trader at Kasuwan Shanu, a cattle market in Maiduguri, told RNI reporter Nana Hadiza Mustapha that he had stopped going far from Maiduguri to get livestock because of the numerous attacks by insurgents from Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and other extremist groups.
“I don’t have money to pay the owners if the insurgents rustle the animals,” he said.
Tijjani, who has been a herdsman for more than 30 years, said his work had been sabotaged by the insurgents.
“Most of us don’t have enough land to raise livestock, so we need to travel to buy them. There’s a clear difference between raising livestock some years back and now. The biggest change and definitely the most dangerous is trying to do business when we keep getting attacked by insurgents.
“We cannot go far away from Maiduguri because we fear the insurgents will rustle the cattle and abduct or kill us. The cows can’t be kept outside in Maiduguri. We take them to the riverside in the morning and bring them home in the evening.”
He said cattle traders and herdsmen used to breed animals in the Ali Damari, Mulai, Galtimari and Bale areas in Borno State before the spike in attacks.
“The insurgency has made us poor.”
Insurgents had informants who told them when the herdsmen were going into the bush to let their cattle graze, Tijjani said.
“They are told where we will be. Then they attack us, gather all the animals and take them with them,” he said.
He had lost many friends in JAS − commonly known as Boko Haram − attacks as well as numerous cattle.
“We don’t know where they take the cattle. And it is too dangerous to go to look for them.”
Mohammed Baba Musa said raising cattle was what he knew and did best.
“It is a job I like and do well. But because of the growing number of attacks, we traders and herdsmen cannot do our jobs. As soon as we venture out away from Maiduguri, we face being attacked. This job has become very dangerous. There’s a good chance that if I leave the area around Maiduguri, I might not return.”
Musa said the government had to do more to quash the insurgents so that they could continue their work as cattle traders and herdsmen without fear.
- In 2016 a suicide bomber, thought to be a member of JAS, attacked Kasuwan Shanu cattle market. No one claimed responsibility but authorities said the attack was similar to those carried out by JAS members. The bomber died and a number of people were wounded.
