Farmers-herders violence in FCT

T****hree people have been reportedly killed and several others injured in a renewed farmers-herders clash in Paikon-Kore community, Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with houses and a motorcycle reportedly set ablaze.

The violence, which began on Saturday afternoon and continued until Sunday morning, also left several shops at the Paikon-Kore village market burnt and goods destroyed.

Experts urge that there is a need to nip the brewing crisis in the bud to avoid recurring deadly scenarios witnessed in other states like Benue and Plateau states, where farmers-herders clashes have claimed hundreds of lives and displaced many.

A resident of the community, Danlami Ibrahim, said the clash started after some herders allegedly allowed their cattle into a groundnut farm whose crops were yet to be harvested.

He said the farm owner confronted the herders over the intrusion, triggering a heated argument.

According to him, one of the herders allegedly brought out a cutlass and attacked a farmer, severing one of his hands.

Ibrahim said the incident sparked anger among residents, particularly after other community members learnt of the farmer’s injury, leading to a reprisal in which three herders were reportedly killed.

He added that two houses, several shops and a motorcycle were set ablaze during the violence.

The resident said the clash continued until Sunday morning, leaving several people injured. Some of the victims were subsequently taken to hospitals in Gwagwalada for treatment.

A visit to the affected village market by our correspondent showed several wooden, zinc-built and container shops burnt, with smoke still billowing from some of the shops.

At Sabon Nakowa Hospital, a private medical facility in Gwagwalada, some victims were seen receiving treatment. Two others were also observed undergoing treatment at the accident and emergency unit of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.

The Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Gwagwalada Area Council chapter, Mohammed Usman, said three herders lost their lives.

“For now, information at my disposal shows that three herders lost their lives. That is what I can say for now, while I am yet to get the number of those who sustained injuries,” he said.

Usman said he would provide further information as it became available, adding that he had informed the Gwagwalada Area Council chairman, Kasim Mohammed Ikwa, about the incident.

Ikwa, who visited the affected community on Sunday alongside the Divisional Police Officer, SP Aaron H. Kaura, and other security operatives, condemned the renewed violence, describing it as unfortunate.

He said the council would convene a stakeholders’ meeting on Monday (today) to deliberate on the crisis and seek ways to prevent further violence.

The chairman urged both warring parties to embrace peace and avoid actions capable of escalating tensions.

He also called on youths in Paikon-Kore to exercise restraint and promote peaceful coexistence with other residents, warning against confrontation and retaliatory attacks.

Ikwa advised farmers whose crops were damaged by cattle to report such incidents to the relevant security agencies rather than resorting to self-help.

He noted that such conflicts often affected innocent people who might not even understand the circumstances that triggered the dispute.

The chairman further urged residents to cooperate with security personnel deployed to the community, adding that an expanded security meeting had been convened, with youth leaders, the Sarkin Noma and other community leaders from both sides invited to seek a lasting solution.

He said anyone who felt unfairly treated or believed their complaints had not received adequate attention should report directly to him for intervention, stressing that grievances must be addressed through lawful channels.

Meanwhile, soldiers, police officers, vigilantes and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been deployed to the community to restore calm.

The FCT Police Command spokesperson, SP Adeh Josephine, did not answer calls seeking the command’s reaction as of the time of filing this report.

Not first clash

Daily Trust recalls that the latest violence followed an earlier clash on August 11, 2026, across Paikon-Kore, Ibwa and Rafin-Zurfi communities, during which a farmer reportedly lost a hand and three other people sustained machete injuries.

Following that incident, Ikwa summoned an emergency security meeting where traditional rulers, community leaders, village and district heads, Ardos of Fulanis, as well as representatives of various security agencies deliberated over the incessant farmers and herders clash.

The chairman, at the end of the security meeting, set up a peace and investigative committee. He also carried out on-the-spot assessments of the three affected communities that witnessed cases of farmers and herders clashes.

Ikwa promised that the committee’s report would be made public during the stakeholders meeting on Monday (today).

Some residents, who spoke to our reporter, said the August 11 incident was a result of cows that allegedly strayed into a farm.

They claimed that the tension heightened when the owner of the farm confronted the herders for allowing cows to graze inside his farm, a situation which they said led to a serious confrontation that left four persons injured.

Ishaku Danjuma, a farmer, explained that a similar incident also happened in Paiko community on the same day, after some cows allegedly grazed inside a maize farm, resulting in clashes between farmers and herders in the community.

He said the farmer queried the herders for allowing cows into the farm, which led to the clash.

“If you make your investigations, you will discover that 95 per cent of incidents of farmers and herders clashes across the three communities were as a result of cows straying into people’s farms,” he said.

A member of the Paiko community, Usman Yakubu, also said the incessant cases of farmers-herders clash were as a result of cows that allegedly invade farms to destroy crops in the rural communities in the area.

He alleged that some herders allowed their cows to eat up some crops, a development he said led to serious confrontations between the affected farmers and the herders across the three communities.

“It was as a result of the destruction of some crops which suddenly resulted in a confrontation between the affected farmers and herders, which later led to the injuring of four farmers across three villages,” he said.

State of grazing reserves in Abuja

The Paikon Kore Grazing Reserve in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is one of the gazetted reserves in Nigeria.

The reserve sits on 9,500 hectares of land but most of the area has also been encroached upon by the communities around the area according to herders.

In June 2022, a major crisis was averted when the then Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar visited the reserve to flag off a pasture development programme when youth in the community and the herders started throwing stones at each other.

Gbagyi farmers were opposed to the programme, and instead called for the place to be fenced, claiming that pasture development would attract large herdsmen and threaten farms around the reserve.

Daily Trust reports that the grazing reserve at Kawu in the Bwari Area Council has not been effectively put into use due to a lack of basic facilities and infrastructure.

The grazing reserve, which spans approximately 9,000 hectares, was originally designed to accommodate about 30,000 cattle and 10,000 households.

Last year, the federal government unveiled a modernisation project for the reserve, which included plans for sinking boreholes to enhance livestock productivity and mitigate recurring farmer-herder conflicts in the area.

However, Mallam Inuwa Bawa, a local livestock farmer, disclosed that the federal government’s promise to plant modern pasture grasses across the reserve remains unfulfilled.

Bawa further noted that persistent insecurity in the area had rendered the facility ineffective, recounting instances where herders were attacked and their livestock rustled. He explained that the wave of attacks forced a significant number of herders to relocate from the area.

He appealed to the federal government to upgrade the infrastructure at the reserve while providing adequate security to protect livelihoods.

Commenting on farmer-herder relations, Bawa added that the lingering insecurity along the axis had disrupted both farming and pastoral activities, preventing both groups from operating effectively around the reserve.

Timeline of farmers-herders clashes in FCT

Farmers-herders clashes in the FCT have claimed several lives and left scores of people injured over the past five years, with deadly confrontations reported in Gwagwalada, Kwali, Kuje and other rural communities.

Available media reports indicate that the violence, frequently linked to disputes over cattle grazing, destruction of crops and access to farmland, has resulted in killings, machete wounds, gunshot injuries and the destruction of homes.

However, a comprehensive official casualty figure for the period could not be established.

One of the deadly incidents occurred in Dobi community, Gwagwalada Area Council, in 2023, when a 32-year-old vigilante, Iliyasu Shuaibu Kolo, was killed. Two other people sustained machete injuries during the clash, which reportedly began after cattle entered a farm. Houses were also destroyed during the violence.

In October 2024, a 52-year-old farmer, Ezekiel Yakubu, was reportedly hacked to death at Tungan Sarki in Dafa ward, Kwali Area Council, following a dispute over cattle allegedly destroying his cassava farm. A relative, Danjuma Moses, said two of the deceased’s sons witnessed the incident. Daily Trust reported that the police had yet to confirm the killing at the time.

The violence escalated in Gurfata, Gwagwalada, in 2025, with some deaths and injuries recorded in a series of confrontations.

According to a Premium Times investigation published on June 30, 2026, community accounts identified Hamza Yakubu as having been killed in May 2025, while Abdul Abubakar, Auwal Musa Lana and Abraham Moses, popularly known as Manya, sustained injuries in June.

Dahiru Yakubu was killed on July 29, 2025, while vigilante commander Musa Yatsu was killed the following day. Isa’ac Abubakar and Sa’ad Yakubu were also reportedly injured during the July 30 violence.

The accounts of casualties in Gurfata differed. In August 2025, Ibrahim Ciroma, the Gwagwalada chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, said the wider crisis had resulted in three deaths and injuries to seven herders.

In another incident on August 9, 2025, nine people — six Bassa farmers and three Fulani herders — sustained machete injuries during a clash in Gomoni village, Kwali Area Council. The confrontation reportedly followed allegations that cattle had destroyed melon and maize farms.

In February 2026, four people, comprising three herders and one resident, were killed in a clash in Gudun-Karya, Kuje Area Council. Houses were burnt and residents fled their homes.

On April 7, 2026, another clash in Fogbe village, Kwali, left one person dead and another seriously injured, according to security sources cited by Zagazola Makama.

Three days later, a separate clash was reported in Kudu community near Takuro, also in Dafa ward, Kwali, leaving two people dead and six others injured.

Farmers accused of grazing reserve encroachment

In an investigation published by Weekend Trust on November 16, 2024, some herders at the Paikon-Kore Grazing Reserve in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) complained that farmers were encroaching on designated grazing areas and obstructing cattle routes.

Hussaini Hassan, a herder living in the reserve, said farmers had encroached on parts of the reserve, cultivating land close to Fulani homes and farms.

“Another problem we face is that of encroachment by farmers. It is a grazing reserve, but farmers have encroached on some parts of it to a level close to Fulani houses or farms. During the rainy season, we don’t have cattle routes,” he said.

Hassan further alleged that some farming communities had continued to encroach on the reserve and were allocating land within it. He said attempts to ask the farmers to leave had resulted in disagreements, with some insisting that there were no cattle routes in the affected areas.

Idris Musa Maikarfi, a milk aggregator in the reserve, corroborated Hassan’s complaint, saying neighbouring farmers were encroaching on farms within the grazing area. He said a committee had been established to resolve land disputes.

Similarly, Suleiman Ahmad, secretary of the Ardon Paikon-Kore, said committees representing farmers and herders had been established to delineate grazing routes, but disputes persisted.

The report also documented other sources of tension between the two groups. Ahmad said some farmers applied chemicals to their farms that affected livestock and sometimes caused animals to die. He also reported instances in which children tending cattle were beaten by farmers when animals strayed into farms.

Security expert calls for early warning systems

Speaking on the clashes, security analyst and chairman of Beacon Consulting, Dr Kabiru Adamu, said the latest violence in Gwagwalada reportedly started after herders’ cattle entered a rice farm and fed on both harvested and unharvested crops.

He said the farmers’ complaints allegedly led to an attack on some of them by the herders, triggering violence that spread across several settlements.

“My information says two people were killed and, of course, houses have been burnt across different settlements, and today the attack continued,” Adamu said.

He said the recurring clashes in parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reflected a longstanding problem, recalling similar incidents in 2012, 2024, 2025 and earlier this year.

The security expert called for stronger early warning systems and faster responses by security agencies to prevent disputes from escalating into violence.

“If early warning indicators had been picked up and then the response capability by our security forces had been deployed, the violence could have been prevented,” he said.

Adamu also stressed the need for an effective justice system to resolve disputes between farmers and herders, particularly cases involving destruction of crops by livestock.

“In this instance, when the cattle or the livestock entered the farm and they destroyed the farm, if the justice system had stepped in and payment was made as compensation, perhaps we wouldn’t be where we are,” he said.

He urged security agencies to arrest anyone found to have taken the law into their own hands, irrespective of whether the suspects were farmers or pastoralists.

“Whoever, for instance, took the law into his own hands, if it’s the farmers, if it’s the pastoralists, let them be arrested fairly without any bias. And then, of course, the next one is for justice to take its course,” he said.

The analyst also called on traditional rulers, religious leaders and other community stakeholders to intervene promptly whenever tensions arose.

He identified misinformation on social media as another factor capable of worsening communal violence, saying false claims circulated on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok had fuelled tensions.

“There was a lot of information that was false, suggesting, for instance, that security forces were supporting the farmers or the violence,” he said.

Adamu urged authorities to develop mechanisms for quickly identifying and countering false information that could incite further attacks, adding that early intervention, impartial law enforcement and timely justice were essential to preventing recurring clashes.