Wisdom of Igbo mothers: How they chased away Fulani herdsmen in Owerri

Fulani herdsmen met their waterloo in Ihiagwa and Nekede, both in Imo State when some women decided to stand up against the AK47 wielding Fulani Herdsmen.

The activities of Fulani herders had become so unbearable in the immediate environs surrounding Nekede, Ihiagwa and Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The herders freely moved their cattle into farms destroying as they trotted along.

The women in these two communities couldn’t stand the combat ready Fulani herdsmen. They convened a meeting and brainstormed a way forward. The women had no gun, knife or any weapon that could match that of the Fulani marauders. Then out of the blues, one genius idea dropped into their mind.

Women understand that grazing animals cannot stand the smell or hotness of chili hot pepper. The women decided to try out their genius idea. They decided they were going to spread red-hot-dried chili pepper around their farmlands and see the outcome. They tasked themselves asking every woman in the community to donate one 1 derica cup of grounded pepper each.

They assembled a huge weight of pepper, organized themselves in groups and embarked on a night crawling job. They spread the pepper across all farms in their area and waited. The next day, the marauders came as usual with their cows. But this time around, they noticed something was wrong with their cows. Within 30 minutes of invasion, their cows started lowing and running amok.

15 cows died! The Fulani Herdsmen fled and sanity returned to Ihiagwa and Nekede. Imagine what this would mean if Benue, Taraba, Enugu, Delta, Imo, Abia, Anambara and other States embark on this novel idea. Imagine what would happen if these States boycott taking on these Marauders headlong.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Jos, Mr. Nuru Abdullahi, said it’s the constitutional right of Fulani herdsmen to move freely in Nigeria movement.

Abdullahi said,

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees freedom of movement for every citizen of the country; this includes the right to live, work and carry out any legitimate activity in any part of the country. If and when you breach this freedom, then, the law should deal with you. So, asking anybody not to go to any part of the country is unconstitutional.”

Vanguard