ACMJ Article

Abstract

This study attempts to assess the insecurity and food crisis resulting from herders and farmers conflict in the southeast region of Nigeria. The objective of this study is, amongst others, to investigate the causes and effects of the conflicts on the food crisis in southeastern Nigeria. The study is anchored on Karl Marx's conflict theory and frustration-aggression theory. A survey research design is adopted for the study. A Wimmer and Dominick online sample size calculator was used to derive a sample size of 384 from a population of 23,283,555 with a multi-stage sampling technique. A closed-ended questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. Data obtained were analysed and presented in simple percentage and frequency tables. The findings revealed that the effect of all of these incessant clashes that resulted in killings, kidnapping, raping, etc., thereby causing food crises in the southeastern region, was that the conflicts greatly affected security negatively as a result of the destruction of lives and properties, which resulted in the emergence of the Eastern Security Network [ESN] that contributed negatively to insecurity in the southeast. The finding revealed that the expansionist agenda for territorial occupation was a driving force amongst the herders; the farmers protracted fear of damage to their farmland and crops resorts to protecting their crops and farmland from trespassing by herders, while herders, on the other hand, resort to protecting their cattle from being killed, rustling, and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that immigration officials check illegal immigrants at the national border against infiltration by strange herders whose intentions are to propagate a hidden agenda of territory acquisition and other inordinate motives. Governments at all levels should mediate between the herders and farmers for a cordial relationship as well as provide adequate security to both herders and farmers to avert unnecessary conflicts.

AN ASSESSMENT OF HERDERS FARMERS CONFLICT ON INSECURITY AND FOOD CRISIS: A STUDY OF SOUTHEAST STATES IN NIGERIA, 2024, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 60-71. PDF