SUMMARY

A major cause of non-state conflicts in Nigeria has been the opposing interests of farmers and herders. The different means of earning an income in turn requires quite different usage of land. The typical issue that has on several occasions erupted into conflict has been destruction of crops by grazing cattle. These conflicts have been numerous, and some of them have even passed the threshold of 25 deaths and hence been included in UCDP data. It should be noticed that these groups are not solely defined by the source of income; they are also, as many Nigerians, defined by their ethnicity and/or their faith. Subsequently clashes between herders and farmers can be described in a variety of ways depending on the context and reporting.

The other dyads that belong to the same herders – farmers cluster of non-state conflicts are; “Afor – Fulani” and “Fulani – Wurukum”. Further information concerning these conflicts can be found under the non-state conflict menu.

The Yugur people in Adamawa State are mostly farmers, while the Fulani people in the area are predominantly cattle grazers. There is little information about historical relations between the groups, but there has been a general pattern of tensions as Fulani have migrated into areas historically dominated by farming people, and it is reported that Yugur and Fulani have clashed repeatedly over rights and access to land. The violence in 2003 that is included in the UCDP data was recorded as Fulani herdsmen migrated into Yugur farmlands sparking violence that led to the death of approximately 40 persons. The violence was believed to be a retaliatory clash as similar events, albeit not as severe, has been recorded in the past.

The Fulani - Yugur conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that have ravaged Nigeria in the past and intensified with the end of military rule, from 1999 and onwards. The conflicts throughout Nigeria have ethnic, political, economic, and religious components, which have become inextricably linked over time, pitting various groups and alliances of groups against each other along different dividing lines.

The non-state conflict between the Fulani and the Yugur people is first included in UCDP data in 2003. In February of that year, clashes broke out between Yugur farmers and Fulani herdsmen, resulting in over 25 deaths