ICYMI: Herdsmen deadlier than Boko Haram, says ICG

The herdsmen-farmers crisis has killed six times more people than Boko Haram insurgency in 2018, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

In a report released on Thursday, the group said the violence is concentrated in north-central states led to the loss of more than 1,300 people in the first six months of 2018.

ICG cited a United Nations official who said Boko Haram insurgency, killed “over 200” people in the first six months of the year, comparing it with 1,300 deaths from clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

“The federal government has taken welcome but insufficient steps to halt the killings,” the report read.

“The government should prosecute perpetrators of violence, disarm ethnic militias and local vigilantes, and begin executing long-term plans for comprehensive livestock sector reform.

“Now claiming about six times more civilian lives than the Boko Haram insurgency, the conflict poses a grave threat to the country’s stability and unity, and it could affect the 2019 general elections.”

“The federal government has taken welcome but insufficient steps to halt the killings.”

It recommended that the government should “prosecute perpetrators of violence, disarm ethnic militias and local vigilantes, and begin executing long-term plans for comprehensive livestock sector reform”.

The current administration has been accused of not doing enough to tackle the problem.

In 2015, the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), ranked herdsmen as the 4th deadliest terror group in  the world.