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 require quite different usage of land. The typical issue that has on several occasions erupted into conflict has been the 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 the 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, Fulani - Yugur and Fulani - Wurukum.
The non-state conflict between Tiv, who are mainly sedentary farmers, and Fulani pastoralists has its origin in an issue that has characterized relations between the groups for hundreds of years; grazing rights for the Fulani cattle. In Benue and Nassarawa states, the issue has in later years become compounded by the redrawing of boundaries and urbanization. Notably, the creation of Benue state in 1976 and subsequent changes in demarcations of boundaries resulted in Tiv becoming a minority in areas where they used to be a majority, changing the power dynamics between different groups and increasing tensions. The Tiv, feeling marginalized by the new dispensation, has accused Fulani of trying to drive them out of large land areas, while unclear regulations of grazing rights have caused grievances among the Fulani herders. Over several decades, clashes have taken place between the two groups over land and grazing rights.
The Fulani - Tiv 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 Fulani and Tiv is first included in UCDP data in 2011. In February that year, clashes in Gwer West LGA of Benue state resulted in over 25 battle-related deaths.
