By Adejumo Kabir
The conflict between crop farmers and herders has, over the past two decades, been a recurring issue, resulting in significant loss of life, displacement, and economic instability. What started with sticks has now snowballed into unending violence that involves use of AK-47s and military-grade firearms, causing killings and the displacement of more than two million people in various parts of Nigeria.
Beyond climate change and resource competition, there is unseen cooperation between jihadi groups and criminal elements, exploiting farmers-herders crisis for their own gain. This infiltration has exposed a key gap in Nigeria’s approach to resolving the conflict, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive strategy.
Jihadi groups, such as Boko Haram and its splinter factions, Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), including other terrorists groups like the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) are exploiting local grievances, including poverty and lack of access to education to attract followers and establish a presence in areas affected by the farmer-herder conflict.
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For instance, last month’s killings of over 100 citizens in the Bokkos and Bassa areas of Plateau State, bears the operational footprints of the jihadi groups who are already stepping up their presence in north-central and northwest regions of the country.
In fact, multiple security and local sources told GGA-Nigeria that Boko Haram and ISWAP members are building stronger ties with disgruntled communities, herder-affiliated armed groups, and criminal gangs.
Implication
The development has had knock-on effects for security in every part of Nigeria, as affected individuals are moving to the south, an area that is fast witnessing an increase in farmer-herder friction, posing additional security threats for citizens.
Locals say farmers who refuse to migrate pay for their survival. They remit thousands of naira to foot soldiers of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), who often use the money to buy ammunition through Nigeria’s porous borders. There have also been more frequent and intense attacks, in recent months causing greater harm to innocent civilians and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
According to recent data by HumAngle Tracker, a database that provides insights into key issues in Nigeria, including conflict and security trends, humanitarian crises, and governance and accountability, no fewer than 1,420 people were killed and 537 others kidnapped in various tragic incidents across Nigeria in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
While security forces are yet to succeed in their fight against jihadists in the northeast, the collaboration between criminal elements and the jihadi groups in the middlebelt will further drain the resources needed to tackle insurgency in the southeast where a separate ethnic militia agitating for an independent Biafra Republic, has been wreaking havoc.
More so, the complexity of the relationship requires a nuanced understanding of the dynamics at play, as they may capitalise on local grievances and frustrations to gain support and legitimacy among certain segments of the population, making it more difficult to achieve a peaceful resolution.
The collaboration also has significant financial implications. As they impose tax on farmers and kidnap for ransom, they are able to sustain their operations and potentially expand their reach through intelligence gathering, logistics, and tactical planning, posing a greater threat to regional stability.
Key gap in Nigeria’s response
The ties between jihadi groups and criminal elements expose a key gap in Nigeria’s approach to resolving the farmer-herder conflict, making it challenging for authorities to develop an effective response.
Over the years, the Nigerian government’s response often focused on deploying military personnel or establishing militias while community engagement and development initiatives, which are critical for addressing the underlying drivers of the conflict are neglected. However, this approach has limitations unless major actors lay down their weapons.
Nigeria needs to adopt a more comprehensive strategy that takes into account the unseen ties between jihadi groups and criminal elements. This strategy should include improved intelligence gathering and analysis to understand the relationships between jihadi groups and criminal elements.
While sustaining the current peace efforts between herders and farmers, the government needs to strengthen the dialogues of farmers, pastoralists, vigilantes, ethnic and religious leaders, and security agencies to make collective decisions about how to manage mutual threats and competing interests.
Lastly, reforming the security sector to ensure that security operations are conducted in a manner that respects human rights and promotes accountability is crucial. Without adequate intelligence on the unseen ties, security operations may not effectively curb the renewed violent attacks.
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Adejumo Kabir Adeniyi is a senior researcher at Good Governance Africa-Nigeria. He is an expert with many years of experience in community development work and governance accountability sector. Before joining GGA, Adejumo worked at Premium Times and HumAngle Media, two of Nigeria’s biggest newspapers specialising on conflict and accountability reporting. His work has featured on esteemed local and international platforms, including Zam magazine, El Pais, IJNet, Premium Times, HumAngle Media and TheCable among others. He is a 2019 recipient of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence, a 2020 recipient of the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award in the United Kingdom, and a 2021 recipient of NAREP Oil and Gas Fellowship.
