Self-Defense during Communal Clashes: The Case of Pastoralists’ Women in Kwara State, Nigeria

Women happen to be one of the most vulnerable groups to suffer losses of life and property during communal conflicts. In the midst of the high rate of incidence of communal clashes reported to involve pastoralist/nomads in Nigeria, it is important to investigate how the pastoralists’ women manage to defend themselves. This study, therefore, examined the self-defense and escaping approaches of the pastoralists’ women during communal clashes involving their husbands. Simple random sampling was used to select 120 respondents in Kwara State. Data were collected using questionnaire and analyzed using percentages. Findings showed that most (96.7Ψ) of the women have witnessed communal clashes and 90Ψ further agreed that women are targets of attack during clashes, however, the majority (79.2Ψ) of the women did not join nor aided their husbands in communal clashes. Regarding pastoralists’ women’s approaches to defending themselves during clashes, 62.5Ψ run away, 20Ψ beg for mercy, and 17.5Ψ fight back. Efforts should be made to engage both pastoral and host communities to embrace dialogue in resolving issues before it escalates into violent communal clashes.