Farmer-Herder Crises, Uncivil Discourses and the Politics of Nigeria’s Security Responses

Bernard Nwosu; Chukwuma Roland Okoli; Ezenwa Olumba; Francis Okpaleke

doi:10.1515/humaff-2024-0098

Enjoy 40% off

academic books on De Gruyter Brill *

Article

Farmer-Herder Crises, Uncivil Discourses and the Politics of Nigeria’s Security Responses

Bernard Nwosu , Chukwuma Roland Okoli , Ezenwa Olumba and Francis Okpaleke

Published/Copyright: April 24, 2025

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Submit Manuscript Author Information Explore this Subject

From the journal Human Affairs Volume 35 Issue 3

Abstract

Studies on farmer-herder conflicts using the Critical Discourse Approach often focus on media portrayals of the conflict. However, the interplay between discursive constructions by primordial or ethnic associations, their dissemination through the media, and their potential effects on the conflict remain underexplored. Therefore, this paper examines the potential effects of the primordially driven discourses on farmer-herder crises in Nigeria. Discourses from civil society on farmer-herder violence in Nigeria hold the potential for two key outcomes: the escalation of the conflict and the creation of doubts about the state’s capacity and impartiality in addressing the violence, leading to calls for restructuring the security architecture to include non-formal security options. Employing Critical Discourse Analysis, the paper examines statements from major ethnic associations across 30 Nigerian online news articles, assessing their role in shaping public perceptions of violence and influencing civil society advocacy for alternative security mechanisms. This paper demonstrates how these narratives can intensify tensions, undermine trust in state security institutions, and, in addition, enable the prioritisation of ethnic biases over constructive dialogue, posing challenges to resolving these violent conflicts. The findings highlight the importance of fostering inclusive and neutral discourse to promote civility and mitigate the worsening of farmer-herder violence.

Keywords: uncivil discourses; rural violence; farmer-herder crises; agrarian violence

Corresponding author: Bernard Nwosu, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria, E-mail: ben.nwosu@unn.edu.ng

Conflict of interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Research funding: This paper did not receive any funding.
Disclosure: Declaration: All individuals listed as authors in this paper qualify to be so, and have approved the submitted version. This paper is original and is not under consideration for publication by any other journal. We have duly acknowledged our sources and no previously published material used in this work requires a special permission for use in our kind of work.

References

Afrobarometer. 2021. “Nigerians Show High Tolerance for Diversity but Low Trust in Fellow Citizens.” https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/news_release-tolerance_high_trust_low_in_nigeria-10march21.pdf.Search in Google Scholar

Akinnaso, Niyi. 2018. “Who Are the Cattle Owners in Nigeria?” Punch. https://punchng.com/who-are-the-cattle-owners-in-nigeria/ (accessed March 13, 2018).Search in Google Scholar

Akinsami, Gboyega. 2019. “Leave South West Now or Face Confrontation….” This Day. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/07/24/leave-swest-now-or-face-confrontation-afenifere-tells-killer-herdsmen/.Search in Google Scholar

Al-Jazeera. 2021. “Horrors on the Plateau: Inside Nigeria’s Farmer-Herder Conflict.” Al-Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/11/28/horrors-on-the-plateau-inside-nigerias-farmer-herder-conflict (accessed November 28, 2021).Search in Google Scholar

Althusser, Louis. 1966. For Marx. Middlesex: Penguin.Search in Google Scholar

Amnesty International. 2018. “Nigeria: Harvest of Death: Three Years of Bloody Clashes between Farmers and Herders in Nigeria.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr44/9503/2018/en/.Search in Google Scholar

Benford, Robert, and David Snow. 2000. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26: 611–39. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.611.Search in Google Scholar

Berman, S. 1997. “Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic.” World Politics 49 (3): 401–429, https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.1997.0008.Search in Google Scholar

Bilali, Rezarta, Rahma Mahmoud, et al.. 2017. “Confronting History and Reconciliation: A Review of Civil Society’s Approaches to Transforming Conflict Narratives.” In History, Education and Conflict Transformation, edited by Charis Psaltis, 77–96. Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-319-54681-0_3Search in Google Scholar

Bilewicz, Michal, and Wiktor Soral. 2020. “Hate Speech Epidemic: The Dynamic Effects of Derogatory Language on Intergroup Relations and Political Radicalization.” Advances in Political Psychology 41 (1): 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12670.Search in Google Scholar

Braun, Joachim von, and Franz W. Gatzweiler. 2014. “Marginality: An Overview and Implications for Policy.” In Marginality: Addressing the Nexus of Poverty, Exclusion and Ecology, edited by Joachim von Braun, and Franz W. Gatzweiler, 27–40. London: Springer.Search in Google Scholar

Bukari, Kaderi Noagah. 2022. “Violent Farmer–Herder Conflicts in Ghana: Constellation of Actors, Citizenship Contestations, Land Access and Politics.” Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne des études Africaines 57 (1): 115–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2022.2031235.Search in Google Scholar

Burr, Vivien. 1995. An Introduction to Social Constructionism. London: Sage.10.4324/9780203299968Search in Google Scholar

Buyse, Antoine. 2014. “Words of Violence: ‘Fear Speech,’ or How Violent Conflict Escalation Relates to the Freedom of Expression.” Human Rights Quarterly 36: 779–97. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2014.0064.Search in Google Scholar

Chalk, Frank. 1999. “Hate Radio in Rwanda.” In The Path of a Genocide, edited by Howard Adelman, and Astri Suhrke. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.Search in Google Scholar

Chambers, Simone, and Jeffrey Kopstein. 2001. “Bad Civil Society.” Political Theory 29 (6): 837–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591701029006008.Search in Google Scholar

Charles, John. 2023. “Gunmen Kill Benue Official Enforcing Anti-open Grazing Law.” Punch. https://punchng.com/gunmen-kill-benue-official-enforcing-anti-open-grazing-law/ (accessed August 22, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Chiluwa, Innocent, and Innocent M. Chiluwa. 2020. “Deadlier Than Boko Haram: Representations of Nigerian Herder-Farmer Conflict in the Local and Foreign Press.” Media, War & Conflict 0 (00): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220902490.Search in Google Scholar

Chukwuma, Kodili Henry. 2020. “Constructing Herder-Farmer Conflict as (in)security in Nigeria.” African Security 13 (1): 54–76, https://doi.org/10.1080/19392206.2020.1732703.Search in Google Scholar

Daniels, S. 2014. “The Circulation of Violence in Discourse.” Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies 109, https://pure.uvt.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/30479872/TPCS_109_Silva.pdf.Search in Google Scholar

Eke, Surulola. 2020. “Nomad Savage’ and Herder–Farmer Conflicts in Nigeria: The (Un)Making of an Ancient Myth.” Third World Quarterly 41 (5): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2019.1702459.Search in Google Scholar

Entman, Robert M. 1993. “Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm.” Journal of Communication 43 (4): 51–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x.Search in Google Scholar

Fairclough, Norman. 2004. Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203697078Search in Google Scholar

Foucault, Michel. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings. New York: Pantheon Books.Search in Google Scholar

Frow, John. 2006. “Discourse and Power.” Economy and Society 14 (2): 193–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085148500000010.Search in Google Scholar

Fukuyama, Francis. 2001. “Social Capital, Civil Society and Development.” Third World Quarterly 22 (1): 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590020022547.Search in Google Scholar

“Fulani Herders Are the Bandits.” 2021. Sahara Reporters. https://saharareporters.com/2021/02/11/fulani-herders-are-bandits-kidnappers%E2%80%94kaduna-niger-communities-cry-out-over-attacks (accessed February 11, 2021).Search in Google Scholar

“Fulani Herders’ Mindless Agatu Killings.” 2016. Punch. https://punchng.com/fulani-herderss-mindless-agatu-killings/ (accessed March 13, 2016).Search in Google Scholar

Galtung, Johan. 1969. “Violence, Peace and Peace Research.” Journal of Peace Research 6 (3): 167–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336900600301.Search in Google Scholar

Gavey, Nicola. 1989. “Feminist Poststructuralism and Discourse Analysis.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 13: 459–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1989.tb01014.x.Search in Google Scholar

George, Justin, Adesoji Adelaja, Titus Awokuse, and Olufemi Vaughan. 2021. “Terrorist Attacks, Land Resource Competition and Violent Farmer-Herder Conflicts.” Land Use Policy 102: 105241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105241.Search in Google Scholar

George, Justin, Adesoji Adelaja, Olufemi Vaughan, and Titus Awokuse. 2022. “Explaining Transhumance-Related Violence: Fulani Ethnic Militia in Rural Nigeria.” Journal of Rural Studies 89: 275–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.12.003.Search in Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Higazi, Adam. 2016. “Farmer-Pastoralist Conflicts on the Jos Plateau, Central Nigeria: Security Responses of Local Vigilantes and the Nigerian State.” Conflict, Security & Development 16 (4): 365–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2016.1200314.Search in Google Scholar

International Crisis Group. 2018. “Stopping Nigeria’s Spiraling Farmer-Herder Violence.” https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/262-stopping-nigerias-spiralling-farmer-herder-violence.Search in Google Scholar

Kay, Cristóbal. 2001. “Reflections on Rural Violence in Latin America.” Third World Quarterly 22 (5): 741–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590120084584.Search in Google Scholar

Lane, Pia. 2014. “Nexus Analysis.” In Handbook of Pragmatics: 2014 Installment 18, edited by Östman, and Verschueren. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.10.1075/hop.18.nex1Search in Google Scholar

Lenshie, Nsemba Edward, and Patience Kondu Jacob. 2020. “Nomadic Migration and Rural Violence in Nigeria: Interrogating the Conflicts between Fulani Herders and Farmers in Taraba State.” Ethnic Studies Review 43 (1): 64–95. https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2020.43.1.64.Search in Google Scholar

Lindekilde, Lasse. 2014. “Discourse and Frame Analysis: Indepth Analysis of Qualitative Data in Social Movement Research.” In Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research Online, edited by Donatella della Porta, 195–227. Oxford: Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198719571.003.0009.Search in Google Scholar

Makinde, F. 2019. “Miyetti Allah to Herders: Defend Yourselves against Ethnic Militia Groups.” Punch. https://punchng.com/miyetti-allah-to-herders-defend-yourselves-against-ethnic-militia-groups/ (accessed July 20, 2019).Search in Google Scholar

Matsumoto, David, Hyi Sung Hwang, and Mark G. Frank. 2012. “The Role of Emotions in Predicting Violence.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/the-role-of-emotion-in-predicting-violence.Search in Google Scholar

Nartey, M., and H. J. Ladegaard. 2020. “Constructing Undesirables: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Othering of Fulani Nomads in the Ghanaian News Media.” Discourse & Communication 15: 184–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481320982095.Search in Google Scholar

Nnochiri, I. 2019. “Anti-Open Grazing Law: Miyetti Allah Drags Benue State to Court.” Vanguard. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/08/anti-open-grazing-law-miyetti-allah-drags-benue-state-to-acourt/.Search in Google Scholar

Nnoli, Okwudiba. 2008. Ethnic Politics in Nigeria, 2nd ed. Enugu, Nigeria: Pan African Centre for Research on Peace and Conflict Resolution (PACREP).Search in Google Scholar

Nwabughiohu, L., F. Ahon, and I. Odu. 2021. “Anti Open Grazing Law....” Vanguard. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/07/anti-open-grazing-law-herders-want-7500002-of-land-in-delta-rage-over-enugu-killings/ (accessed March, August 13, 2024).Search in Google Scholar

Nwankwo, C. F. 2021. “Discursive Construction of the Farmer-Pastoralist Conflict in Nigeria.” Open Political Science 4: 136–46. https://doi.org/10.1515/openps-2021-0014.Search in Google Scholar

Nwankwo, C. F. 2023. “The Moral Economy of the Agatu “Massacre”: Reterritorializing Farmer-Herder Relations.” Society 60 (2): 359–371.10.1007/s12115-023-00860-xSearch in Google Scholar

Nwankwo, C. F. 2024. “Constructing Farmer-Pastoralist Conflict as Islamization: Transformation and Adaptation of Resource Competition Discourse in the Nigerian Benue Valley.” Geoforum 148: 103937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103937.Search in Google Scholar

Nwankwo, C. F., R. Ayadiuno, A. Ali, and I. Madu. 2020. “Farmer-Herder Conflict: The Politics of Media Discourse in Nigeria.” Ponte 76: 191–221. https://doi.org/10.21506/j.ponte.2020.1.13.Search in Google Scholar

Ogundipe, S. 2018. “Military, Police Complicit in Killings across Nigeria.” Premium Times. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/262959-military-police-complicit-in-killings-across-nigeria-t-y-danjuma.html?tztc=1 (accessed March 24, 2018).Search in Google Scholar

Ogundipe, S. 2019. “Miyetti Allah Denounces Sister Group Urging Fight Back in Southern Nigeria.” Premium Times. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/341970-miyetti-allah-denounces-sister-group-urging-fightback-in-south.html (accessed July 20, 2019).Search in Google Scholar

Ojo, J. S. 2023. “Climate-Related Armed Conflict, Anti-open Grazing Movement, and Communities’ Resistance to Climate-Change Adaptation Policy in Nigeria’s Middlebelt.” Conflict Resolution Quarterly: 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21390.Search in Google Scholar

Ojo, O. 2020. “Operation Amotekun: Real Reasons Yoruba Leaders Created Regional Security Outfit.” The Sun. https://www.sunnewsonline.com/operation-amotekun-real-reasons-yoruba-leaders-created-regional-security-outfit/ (accessed January 12, 2020).Search in Google Scholar

Olaleye, O., S. Oyeyipo, G. Akinsanmi, A. Okolie, P. Obi, and W. Ayodele. 2018. “Danjuma Accuses Armed Forces of Complicity in Killings across Nigeria.” ThisDay. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/03/25/danjuma-accuses-armed-forces-of-complicity-in-killings-across-nigeria/ (accessed March 25, 2018).Search in Google Scholar

Olayoku, Philip. 2014. “Trends and Patterns of Cattle Grazing and Rural Violence in Nigeria, 2006–2014.” IFRA-Nigeria Working Papers Series, no. 3. https://ifra-nigeria.org/publications/e-papers/68-olayoku-philip-a-2014-trends-and-patterns-of-cattle-grazing-and-rural-violence-in-nigeria-2006-2014.Search in Google Scholar

Olumba, E. E., B. U. Nwosu, F. N. Okpaleke, and R. C. Okoli. 2022. “Reconceptualizing Eco-Violence: Moving beyond the Multiple Labelling of Water and Agricultural Resource Conflict in the Sahel.” Third World Quarterly 43 (9): 2075–090. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2022.2083601.Search in Google Scholar

Omogbolagun, T. 2023. “Over 60,000 People Killed in Farmer-Herder Conflict.” Punch. https://punchng.com/over-60000-people-killed-in-farmers-herders-conflict-reps/ (accessed August 29, 2023).Search in Google Scholar

Onoja, I. B., P. Bebenimibo, and N. M. Onoja. 2022. “Critical Discourse Analysis of Online Audiences’ Comments: Insights from the Channels TV Facebook Audiences’ Comments on Farmers-Herders Conflicts News Stories in Nigeria.” Sage Open 12: 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221119470.Search in Google Scholar

Osaghae, E., and R. Suberu. 2005. “A History of Identities, Violence and Stability in Nigeria.” CRISE Working Papers, no. 6. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08c9840f0b652dd00141e/wp6.pdf.Search in Google Scholar

Putnam, R. D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.10.1145/358916.361990Search in Google Scholar

Sahara, Reporters. 2022. “Police Chief accuses Army of working with Fulani kidnappers.” https://saharareporters.com/2022/06/01/police-chief-accuses-nigerian-army-working-fulani-herders-kidnapping-ransom-abia (accessed June 1, 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Schaft, K. A. 2021. “Rurality and Crises of Democracy: What Can Rural Sociology Offer the Present Moment?” Rural Sociology 86 (3): 303–419. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12408.Search in Google Scholar

Scollon, R., and S. W. Scollon. 2004. Nexus Analysis: Discourse and the Emerging Internet. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203694343Search in Google Scholar

Shosanya, M. 2022. “Stop Treating Killer Herders with Kid Gloves.” Independent. https://independent.ng/stakeholders-to-fg-stop-treating-killer-herders-with-kid-gloves/ (accessed January 23, 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Soriwei, F. 2016. “Herders Kill in Self-Defence.” Punch. https://punchng.com/herders-kill-self-defence-says-miyetti-allah/ (accessed May 5, 2016).Search in Google Scholar

Tackling Impediments to South-South Security Outfit. 2020. “Nigerian Tribune.” https://tribuneonlineng.com/tackling-impediments-to-south-south-security-outfit/ (accessed March 12, 2020).Search in Google Scholar

Tocqueville, A. de. 2002. Democracy in America. Vols. 1 and 2. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University. http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/LojkoMiklos/Alexis-de-Tocqueville-Democracy-in-America.pdf.Search in Google Scholar

Tuki, D. 2024. “You’re Not Welcome! Violence and Support for an Open Grazing Ban Policy in Kaduna, Nigeria.” Environment and Security: 27538796241293243. https://doi.org/10.1177/27538796241293243.Search in Google Scholar

Tukur, S., T. H. Adebayo, and E. Maya. 2016. “Why We Struck in Agatu.” Premium Times. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/200426-exclusive-struck-agatu-fulani-herders.html (accessed March 19, 2016).Search in Google Scholar

Ugwu, E. 2020. “Youths Knock South East Governors for Failure to Adopt Regional Security Outfit.” ThisDay. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/02/22/ohanaeze-youths-knock-seast-govs-for-failure-to-adopt-regional-security-outfit/ (accessed February 22, 2020).Search in Google Scholar

Uzodinma, E. 2020. “Insecurity: We Will Defend Every Igbo Man – Ohaneze.” Daily Post. https://dailypost.ng/2020/02/10/insecurity-we-will-defend-every-igbo-man-ohanaeze/ (accessed February 10, 2020).Search in Google Scholar

Vanger, E. T., and B. U. Nwosu. 2020. “Institutional Parameters that Condition Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Tivland of Benue State Nigeria.” African Security Review 29 (1): 2–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2020.1763413.Search in Google Scholar

Varshney, Ashutosh. 2001. “Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and beyond.” World Politics 53 (3): 362–98. https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.2001.0012.Search in Google Scholar

Yahaya, M. K. 2002. “Development and Challenges of Bakalori Irrigation Project in Sokoto State, Nigeria.” Nordic Journal of African Studies 11 (3): 411–30. https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v11i3.351.Search in Google Scholar

Ye, Chao, Xiangyi Ma, Ruishan Chen, and Yongli Cai. 2018. “Marginalised Countryside in a Globalized City: Production of Rural Space of Wujing Township in Shanghai, China.” International Development Planning Review 41 (3): 311–28. https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2018.29.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2024-10-08

Accepted: 2025-03-15

Published Online: 2025-04-24

Published in Print: 2025-07-28

You are currently not able to access this content.

Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2024-0098

Keywords for this article

uncivil discourses; rural violence; farmer-herder crises; agrarian violence