Nigerian Army finally reacts to Fulani herdsmen crisis launching Operation Cat Race to face them

NIGERIAN Army commanders have launched an offensive called Operation Cat Race aimed at addressing the ongoing menace of Fulani cattle herdsmen killing people across the country with reckless abandon.

Over recent years, heavily-armed Fulani herdsmen equipped with AK47 assault rifles have laid siege to farming communities across the Middle Belt, attacking villages that dare to oppose them grazing their livestock on their land. Despite the fact that hundreds have died in these clashes, the security forces have turned a blind eye to the menace, prompting criticism that the Nigerian Army is in collusion with the herdsmen.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been singled out for particular criticism over this inaction as he is not only an ethnic Fulani but is also a cattle herdsman himself. Critics have accused him of sympathising with the herdsmen and as a result, he has refused to take them on as he has done Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants of Biafran secessionists.

It now appears that in response to the criticism, the government has finally decided to act, with the Nigerian Army instructed to go after killer herdsmen behind the killings in Benue, Taraba, Niger and Kaduna states. Speaking in Nasarawa State yesterday, President Buhari warned that attacks by herdsmen and other bandits would no longer be tolerated.

Consequently, the Nigerian Army said it would begin a special exercise tagged Operation Cat Race which to tackle the recurring herdsmen/farmers clashes and criminal activities. Troops will be deployed in the four states from next week and the first phase of the exercise is billed to hold between February 15 and March 31.

Major General David Ahmadu, the chief of training and operations at Nigerian Army headquarters, said the exercise would be targeted at killer-herdsmen, cattle rustlers, armed bandits, kidnappers, armed militias and other criminal elements. He listed other security agencies that will participate in the exercise as the Department of States Services, the police, the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

General Ahmadu said the exercise would cover the First and Third Divisions of the Nigerian Army representing the northwest and north central geopolitical zones. He added that the Guards Brigade, 707 Special Forces Brigade and the Headquarters Army Command, will also be involved in the exercise.