From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Igwe Chika Uchime, the traditional ruler of Ufuma community, could not believe his ears when a member of the Anambra State Cattle Menace Control Committee told him that he could be dethroned for standing in the way of Fulani herdsmen trying to settle in his community.
That cautionary statement, which looked like a subtle threat, was dropped on his laps in the presence of his cabinet members sometime in 2015 while they were having a meeting in his palace.
The government committee had stormed his palace to inquire from him why he had insisted that herdsmen would not settle in his territory in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state.
Dissatisfied with the answers, the committee, Saturday Sun gathered, told the revered monarch to throw his gates open for the herdsmen and receive them with a warm embrace as that was the position of the state authorities.
To make the government’s position clearer, a member of the committee expressly told the traditional ruler that he could be removed from office by the governor, Chief Willie Obiano, if he failed to act as instructed.
“On the day they came, we were having our cabinet meeting. One of them told me that the government could withdraw my Certificate of Recognition if I didn’t back down,” the monarch recalled.
Genesis of the trouble
Until 2015, before the arrival of Fulani herdsmen, Ufuma community, which is the headquarters of Orumba North LGA of the state had enjoyed relative peace. About a year after Governor Obiano assumed office, some Fulani herdsmen with their herds of cattle besieged the community. They came to settle on their farmland; a development which the residents found unacceptable.
To do the bidding of his people, Igwe Uchime told Saturday Sun that he approached the herders and explained to them that their culture, tradition and general ways of life run opposite to theirs and as such, they would not be able to settle in the community.
He also explained to them that his people were farmers and that they would not take it lightly if their cattle destroyed their crops. For the sake of peace, he told Saturday Sun that he asked them to go elsewhere.
The monarch said that he was surprised that the herdsmen refused to leave and insisted that they must settle in the community. He narrated that his people have heard terrible stories about the ugly activities of herdsmen in other places and didn’t want to suffer the same. Igwe Uchime vowed not to allow the herdsmen to occupy their farmland because many of his subjects eke out a living from there.
Battles with herdsmen
“When they came here in 2015, I didn’t allow them to settle. In Ufuma, we don’t allow cows to move about. Anybody that owns a cow, ties it to a tree so that it wouldn’t go into people’s farms to graze. If its rope breaks and it grazes on anybody’s farm, you must pay N50,000 fine.
“Most people in Ufuma sold off their cattle because they wouldn’t want them to destroy anybody’s crop and then incur expenses. But before we knew it, Fulani herdsmen surged into our community with their cattle. So, I didn’t allow them to settle here. I told them plainly that we don’t want them here. It became an issue to the point that the state government had to send a delegation.
Your land or your throne
Following the monarch’s stiff resistance that herders would not settle on their farmland, he said the state government threatened to dethrone him. “But I told them that I will stand firmly with my people. We have our way of life here. I told them that if standing with my people would cost me the certificate, so be it.
“I told them that I would not be here and watch outsiders maltreat my people; destroy their farms which are their source of livelihood and I would just sit here and do nothing. I told them that I would stand firmly with my people.
“It was later that they explained to me that the governor had said that we should allow them to settle; that if their cattle destroy our farms, they would pay compensation.
“There is no way the governor would give directives and I would say no. You know it’s not possible. That was how the Fulani herdsmen settled here. But even after they settled, I was still actively involved in settling disputes between them and our people.
Barrage of troubles
Igwe Uchime, told Saturday Sun that no sooner had the herdsmen settled that they started causing trouble in the community. He alleged that the herdsmen invaded their farms and destroyed food crops with reckless abandon.
“From 2015 to November 2019, we have a record of the things they destroyed. I received so many complaints from my subjects concerning their farms destroyed by the Fulani herdsmen.
“I called the committee (cattle menace committee) and they came and assessed the level of damage done. I ensured that my people got compensated. I got the money from them and gave it to the victims.
“Ufuma people are predominantly farmers. So, the coming of Fulani herdsmen to Ufuma is a bad omen for us. Their coming has negatively affected our farming activities and we have been having issues with them.
“Our people no longer farm as we used to because after planting our crops, they would lead their cattle into our farms and destroy them”, the monarch lamented.
Herdsmen fight back
To take their own pound of flesh for the troubles the monarch had caused them, the Fulani herdsmen allegedly told some women in the community that their monarch took bribes from them before allowing them entry into the town. The allegation, according to the traditional ruler, spread like wildfire in the area.
Igwe Uchime told Saturday Sun that the herdsmen poisoned the minds of his subjects in their desperate efforts to pit them against him and cause distrust in the town.
“Some of them believed their lies. The money in question was actually the compensation I got from the government’s committee and gave to those whose farms were destroyed by the herdsmen,” the monarch stated.
More problems, lamentations
Following the grave allegations, Igwe Uchime said he backed off to protect his integrity. He then set up committees to oversee the resolution of conflicts between herders and farmers.
He, however, lamented that the situation has worsened since the villagers started handling the matter by themselves. He told Saturday Sun that the herders destroyed farmlands and still refused to pay compensation.
“We later set up a committee and the arrangement was that each village would handle issues concerning the herdsmen’s destruction of farms. Any matter they couldn’t handle would be referred to the Ufuma committee headed by the President-General.