Benue State University, Makurdi

Farmer-Herder Conflicts and the Plight of Internally Displaced Women in Guma LGA of Benue State-Nigeria, 2015-2021

Ahmed Audu YUSUFU, Mohammed ALIYU and Tijani Adamu OGAJI

Abstract

Women and children are the most vulnerable people in most societies. Most of them are armless and defenseless. This group of people has been the worst hit by most violent conflicts, and this has consequently limited their contributions to the socio-economic development of their societies. The violent resource conflict between farmers and herders across Nigeria has been responsible for the displacement of millions of persons including women and children in several farming communities, especially in North-Central Nigeria. Most of the displaced persons are forced by circumstances beyond their control to reside in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps where social amenities are either lacking or insufficient to meet their needs. Against this backdrop therefore, this paper examines farmer-herder conflict and the plight of Internally Displaced Women (IDW) in Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State. The paper is anchored on Relative Deprivation Theory (RDT) as its framework of analysis. The paper deploys mixed-methods approach with quantitative dominance in collecting and analyzing data. The research hypotheses were tested using non-parametric statistics (chi-square) at 5% level of significance. The findings of the study showed that the rising incidences of farmerherder conflict resulted to an increasing number of IDW faced with numerous challenges ranging from inadequate shelter to inadequate food supply. However, the test of hypothesis showed no significant relationship between farmer-herder conflict and the plight of the IDW. The paper, therefore, recommends among others that the Federal Government should ensure that the basic needs of IDW and other vulnerable groups such as children, people living with disabilities and the aged are met in their various IDP camps while at the same time making prompt arrangements for their peaceful resettlement in their ancestral homes.

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