IOM Impacts Over 30,000 Victims Of Farmers/Herders Clashes In Taraba, Adamawa

No fewer than 30,000 people have benefited from the United Nations International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) project to reduce conflict between farmers and herders in Taraba and Adamawa states.

The revelation was made by the IOM Chief of Mission Laurent De Boeck during the official inauguration of the second phase of the mission’s project steering committee meeting in Abuja.

The project is titled “Contributing to the mitigation of conflict over natural resources between farmer and herder communities in Taraba and Adamawa States, Nigeria (COMITAS Il)” and is being implemented by IOM in collaboration with Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Mercy Corps, and funded by the European Union (EU).

De Boeck, who was represented by Juliana Dorr, Programme Manager of IOM said, “The COMITAS II project was built on the first one, in December, 2022 it successfully contributed to improving the lives of women, men and children in Adamawa.

“This is the start of phase-two and with the programme inclusion of Taraba, the contribution by partners has reached 30,000 individuals across nine local governments.”

Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, represented by the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. David Jatan, said the COMITAS II project has been going on in the state since 2021.

He stated: “The project has had a tremendous impact on the community, particularly on herder-farmer conflict; it has significantly reduced incidents of conflict between farmers and herders.

Fintiri added that: @The peacebuilding programme of the project has brought sucor and peace among farmers and herders in Adamawa, and changed the livelihood of these communities.”

On his part, Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr. Jeji Williams, said the programme is ongoing in the state.

Kefas said: “We benefited so much and lots of women and children have improved in terms of livelihood; we are not Oliver Twist, but we will tell you there are more grey areas to be covered in the state.”

Programme Manager, Regional Team for West Africa of the EU, Eric Pitois, said the project remained important as it tackles the root causes of farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria.

He said: “This includes high competition of natural resources, climate change; we strongly encourage positive collaboration between Federal Ministries, Adamawa, Taraba and other stakeholders.

“They should work towards the noble goal for Nigerians, particularly women and children living in difficulties in some parts of the country.”

Staff Officer, Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE), National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Dennis Oziioko, commended the meeting for being timely in tackling conflict.

He said: “There is no doubt this meeting will provide an opportunity for all our key project officials to review updates on the COMITAS II project activities, since the last meeting held in 2023 in Abuja.

“We will be able to review the project’s progress to date and discuss its sustainability plan.”

The committee is responsible for overseeing the project’s implementation, making decisions, and providing strategic guidance in response to demographic growth, human settlement expansion, land privatisation, year-round farming practices, environmental degradation, and climate change.