With ruined means of livelihood, Kaduna women widowed by farmer-herder clashes languish in misery

Unending clashes between farmers and herders are leaving women and children in communities badly impacted by the crisis in the Zago Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State double jeopardy, writes SOLOMON ODENIYI

In Matyei, Ugwan Rogo, and Abuyab communities where houses once proudly stood, lies the ruins of a once buzzing city.

The pathways to the communities in the Zago Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State now whisper tales of desolation and danger for would-be passers-by.

  The destruction occasioned by the farmer-herder crisis in the southern part of Kaduna alluded to the carnage.

  Many residents on the run for dear lives deserted the communities, while those who stayed behind are fervently praying against the evil day.

 Residents of the communities, who are dominantly farmers, say they are denied the opportunity to earn a good living from farming as they live in fear of being attacked on their farmland as well as in their homes.

 Kaduna is one of the states affected by the farmer-herder clashes more dominant in the southern parts of the state.

 A record of the incidents between June 2020 and May 2022 obtained from the community leaders showed that 73 communities were affected by the crisis.

 According to a survey by Zinariya Consult, a development and policy advocacy firm, approximately 60,000 individuals lost their lives, and over 300,000 were displaced in four states in the conflict between 2001 to 2018.

 The conflict’s death toll will likely have risen as the clashes linger in many parts of the country.

Women bearing the brunt

Women in the affected communities have witnessed unspeakable horrors as some of them watched their husbands breathe their last.

 Our correspondent gathered that men were the main targets of the attacks, leaving the women and children bereft of their breadwinners.

Now, the widows and their children are staring abject poverty in the eye as most of them have little to no formal education and now live in fear and limited skills to earn a decent livelihood.

 Although there are no official figures of those widowed, a community leader, Rev Victor Yahaya, said, “Many women in Matyei, Ugwan Rogo, and Jako are without husbands. They were killed during the crisis. The widows we have here are in hundreds.”

Many of the 20 widows who narrated their agonising stories to our correspondent showed signs that they had been weighed down by the heavy burdens of fending for their families; their children were not any better.

 The death of their husbands and fathers, caused by the crisis as well as the lack of a livelihood, has left them great suffering.

 This has been compounded by the harsh economy and rising inflation rate which stood at 31.7 per cent in February 2024.

A widow’s death wish

 Forty-year-old Grace Douglas was heavily pregnant when her husband took her to her elder sister’s for proper care with the hope of seeing her again after the delivery of their child.

 That never happened. His dismembered corpse was what she saw the next time she saw him. Douglas’ husband was killed on his farm by suspected herdsmen while harvesting the ginger he had cultivated.

 “I was heavily pregnant when he was killed. Before that time, he took me to my elder sister for proper care. I only saw his corpse and that was very traumatic for me. When I heard the news, I fainted and was rushed to the hospital and the doctor did his best to revive me.

 “My husband was killed on December 1, 2021. He went to check the ginger they harvested not knowing that the herders had laid an ambush in the vicinity. He was slaughtered; I wish I were there for them to kill us together,” the still-dejected widow narrated.

 Douglas still wished her husband was alive to continue his role as the breadwinner of the family as providing for the family was not a task she was used to.

 She added, “I wish I had the power to change things, I would have loved to bring my husband back to life, even if I would have to replace him.”

 Asked why she wanted to do so, she said, “If my husband was alive, he would have been able to take care of the children. As a widow, I don’t have the power to take care of the children. Anytime I am in need, I always recall and wish he was alive. He did everything.”

 The woman works on people’s farms to cater for her seven children and other dependents. However, with the tedious job she does, what she earns is not enough to put food on their table.

 “We lived a very comfortable life when my husband was alive. Now, the little I get working on peoples’ farms, which is not easy, we can’t even survive on it, “ she said looking forlorn.

She also wished to start cultivating ginger and engage in trading activities to get the financial stability needed to care for her family.

No shelter, no work

Cecilia Augustine’s residence in Matiyei was part of the houses torched by the marauding herdsmen in 2021.

According to the record obtained from the community leaders, over 607 houses were razed in the affected communities in that year.

“The herdsmen set the entire compound ablaze. All our property, including three motorcycles and the store where we keep our foodstuffs and some bags of fertilisers which I was selling, were set on fire on that fateful day,” she recalled.

  Now, Augustine has nowhere to call home. To also fend for the family after her husband’s death, she fetches firewood from farms amid fear and sells it to those in need of it in other communities.

 She told our correspondent she sells firewood for between N200 and N500 per bundle.

 She said, “The clothes that I have been wearing were due to the help of some people because everything we had was set ablaze. I don’t have a home of my own, I have been unable to rebuild my husband’s house.

“Is it from the firewood that I go to the farm to get and sell for between N200 and N500 that I will do that? My children and I manage at a friend’s house, but it is not comfortable for us.”

Recalling how she lost her husband, she said, “The thing happened on July 12, 2021, around 7 pm, we were about to enter our house to sleep, suddenly we heard gunshots very close to us. My husband ensured that we all ran out but he could not make it when they got to our house. They shot him, dismembered him, and set him ablaze. When I came back, all I saw was my husband’s ashes.”

 Augustine said though she would love to put the tragedy behind her, she needed financial support to pick up the pieces of her life.

 “I do not like my present condition. I wish I could receive support to get fertiliser to start farming. If I get this and there is security at our farms, I would be happy. I want to cultivate ginger, “ she added.

 How the crisis started

Saturday According gathered that the crisis stemmed from a land dispute in 1992 which claimed the lives of about 2,000 people. The unresolved crisis later degenerated into a violent clash between farmers and herders in 2020 after the death of the son of a cleric.

 At present, the crisis is said to have spiraled into an ethno-religious conflict.

 To address the ongoing crisis, the administration of former governor Nasiru El-Rufai instituted a White Paper Committee. The committee was tasked with reviewing a report from a 1992 committee that previous administrations had ignored.

 Similar to the previous administration’s inaction on the report, the Uba Sani administration appears to be following the same path, with no updates on the committee’s progress being reported.

Widowed at 25

 Being a widow at the age of 25 was not what Rose Jacabo ever thought of. She was just five years into her marriage when life was snuffed out of her husband by herders who ambushed him on his way home.

 “He was an okada rider. On his way home, while trying to cross the bridge, he was ambushed by the herdsmen and killed. He was shot and his assailants used a machete on him several times.

 “Ever since I lost my husband, my life has been miserable. Sometimes, I wish he was alive. He was 29 when he was killed, and I was 24 years old then. We were just five years into our marriage,” she said.

 Rose now contends with the burden of fending for her two children and eight others adopted by her husband after their parents were killed by herdsmen.

 She said, “I am trying to cope with the challenges of life as a young widow. Some men try to sexually harass me because I am young and without a husband.

“I have two children, one is five, and the other is three years old. My husband adopted eight children whose parents were also killed. He was taking care of those children, so they all depend on me now.

“I normally assist people in town at home, so they give me food and little change in exchange. I manage them with the children.”

 Rose wished she could get some money to start selling local drinks and bean cakes to adequately cater to her family.

She said, “I was a petty trader before the death of my husband. We used all the money to feed ourselves and the business folded up. Now, if I can get some money to sell local drinks and bean cakes, that will help us survive.”

Weighed down by challenges

For Happiness, another resident of Abuyab, life has been anything but tough. The death of her husband, the current economic situation, and the illness her son battled are difficulties she is battling.

 She said, “I am just managing life now that the country is hot. Other tragic incidents happened after my husband’s demise. Some of the children went to seek refuge in Zonkwa, and one of my sons got sick.

“Since that time, thousands of naira have been spent on him anytime he was affected by the sickness. When the boy was born, there was nothing wrong with him but after they went to Zonkwa to seek refuge, the sickness just came and I can’t explain what caused the sickness; it normally comes like a convulsion, sometimes when the sickness comes, he might spend three days in the hospital.”

 A tearful widow

 Like Happiness, Naomi Tinati has yet to get over the death of her husband. Tinati who wept all through the interview with Saturday According.

 “She has been bitter and sorrowful ever since she lost her husband and it has been affecting her,” her neighbour, Sarah, said.

 Sarah said Tinati’s husband died in a gruesome way, despite pleas to the killers to spare his life. She explained that he was locked inside a house and was set on fire.

   Speaking with our correspondent, Sarah said, “She and her children were crying and pleading with the herdsmen but they did not answer them. They left after the house was completely burnt. That was how her husband died.”

 Even as Tinati struggled to cope with her husband’s death, Sarah pointed out that two of her refuge-seeking children had to avenge their father’s death.

 “They are always fuming anytime they see anybody rearing cattle. Their mother always talks them out of it but sometimes her effort is not enough, considering the new situation they find themselves without anybody to help them. They have yet to rebuild their house and rely on gifts from people,” she added.

 Children exposed to labour to help out

 While the 2003 Child Rights Act forbids involving children under 18 in harmful labour, some mothers, burdened by increasing responsibilities, feel compelled to make choices that contradict this act.

 For example, Rose said her children washed clothes and plates for people to support what she made for a living.

 “The others also go to the farm with me to help out, “she added.

It was also learnt that other children below 18 were engaged in different forms of labour to augment what their mothers make.

 Worsening out-of-school

With the communities still crisis-ridden, many of the children have forgotten what a classroom looks like. Although this is not a deliberate act by their mothers, the means to continue the payment of their children’s school fees was hampered by the gruesome murder of their husbands.

 All of Douglas’ children who attended private schools while her husband was alive now stay at home.

 She said, “When my husband was killed I could not continue to pay their school fees which is why they are all at home,” noting that the children stopped attending school after the camp where they sought refuge was closed.

 Rose added, “No, none of them goes to school. It is not my wish for them. When we were at the IDP camp, I ensured they never missed school but when there is no means, what can you do? They have been at home.”

 Rose is not alone, Tinati’s children have been at home.

 Sarah said, “I have only one child in school out of 10. I don’t have the means to pay the children’s school fees. Feeding has been an issue.”

 A teacher at LEA Primary School in the Waraka area of Gora Gida, Emmanuel Gama, said attendance in school drastically dropped after the resurgence of the crisis in 2020.

Gama added that despite efforts by teachers to promote school attendance, parents had kept their children away from school.

 He said, “Since 2020, attendance in school has dropped. Most of the parents do not allow their children to come to school. While some of them have been helping their parents out, others are afraid of being attacked.

“We have gone to their homes to talk to them but we only have a few pupils in school. It is the same everywhere.”

 Out of the about 20 million out-of-school children, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in Nigeria, Kaduna is said to have 680,000, a challenge that could be a clog in the wheel of the government’s effort to achieve the benchmark for the reduction of out-of-school children.

 Depression inevitable for widows, children – Experts

A psychotherapist, ‘Dedoyin Ajayi, said depression was unavoidable for survivors who lost loved ones to the clashes.

 “I can imagine what they are going through – the harrowing experiences, and the post-traumatic stress disorder that will follow. It’s only normal that they would relieve this thing and every time they relieve it, they are not only grieving, they are having to experience the event over and over again; so, it’s like a complicated tragedy and in that situation, depression is almost inevitable,” Ajayi said.

 She noted that beyond physical relief like food and others, they victims needed a lot of social support.

 “I’m not talking about the government going to them and making a parade of their faces and having them rehash the harrowing experiences without necessarily feeding their souls. What they need right now is therapy, having people who understand their languages go there and speak life to their hearts, encourage them, listen to them, and create systems of moral support for them,” she added.

 The head of the delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Bhupinder Tomar, said the widows must be urgently provided with means of livelihood, shelter, and security.

 In an interview with our correspondent, he said due to the increasing humanitarian crisis in the country, the government alone might not be able to solve their problems, calling on individuals and organisations to rise to the occasion.

 Tomar said, “The widows must urgently be provided with a means of livelihood. This could be through cash transfers.

“They also need to be provided with shelter so that they can give some stability to their households and help them engage in livelihood activities better.

 “We must also ensure they have protection, without this, they will not be able to move out of their houses freely. All these areas need to be addressed; this issue has gone so large that all Nigerians need to contribute together with the government.”

 However, a security expert, Timothy Avele, said neglecting the widows and their children portended great danger for the state and the county at large.

 He said, “That could breed the next deadly bandits and terrorists if not urgently looked into and a solution provided. After all, they will have nothing to lose than to unleash their anger on innocent citizens.

 “These children who have no one to care for them become easy recruits for terrorists.”

 Warring parties make demands

 During separate interactions with Saturday According, the district head of Ungwan Ruhogo, Umaru Biliyok, urged the government to relocate the herders or construct a dam on the land, while the leader of the Fulani, Hakimi Zango, Idris Tasiu, said the ethnic group was interested in peace.

According to Biliyok, the expanse of land occupied by the herders was initially set aside for the construction of a dam.

He said, “We don’t have a problem. I don’t know if they (herders) can allow peace to reign or if the government can intervene so that they can leave that place they are occupying so we can have peace.

 “Also, the then Governor of Kano State, Col. Jakuru Isah, did some demarcation to divide us from them; some areas were left for the construction of a dam, but it has not been constructed. Since nobody was there, our people started farming on the land. If the government can construct the dam, maybe we can have the desired peace.”

 On his part, the leader of the Fulani, Hakimi Zango, Idris Tasiu, urged the government to expedite action on their investigation in a bid to resolve the crisis amicably.

 Tasiu said, “To be sincere, we are people who want peace, we don’t fight or cause trouble with anyone. At all times, it’s the other party that looks for trouble. We are tired of this crisis too. We pray to Almighty Allah to bring an end to it.

 “This crisis is not on anything but on farmland, the Sarkin has set up a committee to look into this crisis but it was abandoned without any positive outcome.”

 “Before Nasiru El Rufai’s tenure ended, he set up a committee that both parties should make their claims, they started and came to check on all the details they needed to know and since they left, we have not heard from them.

 “We urge the government to look into this matter and bring an end to it.

 We want to live in the same place with our friends because that’s how God has created us. We didn’t bring ourselves here, we have been living together since the days of our grandparents,” he added.

 Efforts to reach the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mohammed Lawal, for comments proved abortive as multiple calls and messages sent to his line were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.