...We lost 1,000 people, 2m cows, Fulani cry out
...Fulani herdsmen are terrorists, Ayu insists
A former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), has called on Nigerians to eschew hate speeches, discrimination and other vices that could trigger senseless violence and bloodshed, stressing that the country has witnessed so much bloodshed through communal clashes and conflicts that need urgent actions to stop.
This is coming as the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Baba Usman Ngeljarma, has raised the alarm that the Fulani herdsmen have lost over 1000 people including children, women and the aged and over 2 million cattle to Tiv militia.
Also, former Senate President, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has described the Fulani herdsmen as terrorists, saying between 1800 and 2018, Benue people have been under attack by this organised evil, adding that only their unity, courage and determined resistance have preserved them.
In his message to mark the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Babangida on Thursday said the occasion was in honour of officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces who laid down their lives for the unity of our country.
According to him, “At this period where our nation is faced with myriads of challenges of terrorism, communal clashes, kidnapping, cultism and gangsterism among other criminalities, we should cooperate and supports our security with relevant information and intelligence to help in tackling the problems. As people we should inculcate our cultural values, that promote good conduct, tolerance and peaceful coexistence. We should eschew hate speeches, discrimination and other vices that trigger senseless violence and bloodshed. We have witness so much bloodshed through communal clashes and conflicts that need urgent actions to stop them now.”
The former military ruler called on governments at all level, religious leaders, traditional rulers, social activists and the media to serve as national vanguards in resolving some of the recent disturbing incidents affecting our national security.
“For the members of the armed forces and security agencies, I urge them to remain apolitical, neutral and focus on the ethics of discipline which is the hallmark of their profession,” he added.
In a related development, the National Secretary of MACBAN said in a press conference on Thursday that Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria as the premier pastoralist body in the country has remained in unimaginable pains on daily basis as the organisation receives communication of gory details of attacks, maiming and destruction of its members across the country.
He added that MACBAN totally condemn violence, in whatever form anywhere in Nigeria and by whoever, stressing that the pastoralist share a long relationship with many communities in the country, as they carry out their legitimate occupation of nomadism/pastoralism; carrying along their lives, families and possessions making it impossible to foment trouble.
The MACBAN scribe described the anti-open-grazing law in Benue, Taraba and other states as nothing more than a symbol of intolerance that do not in any way intend to solve the farmers/grazers conflict as the livestock breeders interest is neither captured in the law nor in its implementation mechanism.
Ngeljarma accused some State Governments of sponsoring ethnic militia against Fulani herdsmen, as well as recruiting and arming locals to kill the hrders and rustle their livestock, citing Benue and Taraba States as examples.
He added that the herdsmen have lost over 1000 people including children, women and the aged and over 2 million cattle to the Tiv militia gang.
MACBAN commended the governors of Bayelsa, Plateau, Kogi and Nasarawa states, for standing on the path of justice in the face of these complicated circumstances.
It also confirmed the position of His Royal Highness the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that in spite of the fact that 732 of their people were killed in Mambila and 82 women and children killed in Numan and nobody was arrested.
It urged the federal government to create a Federal Ministry of Livestock Development “to attend to the multidimensional needs of the industry as is obtained in many countries and the enactment of a national law to carter for the peculiar needs of pastoralists in particular and the livestock subsector in general since the mischievous anti-open grazing laws promulgated by some states have woefully failed to address the contentious issues”.
MACBAN said it rejected any attempt of branding herdsmen as terrorists as is being clamoured from certain quarters.
However, Ayu said in a statement that the Fulani herdsmen are terrorists made up of Nigerians and non-Nigerians, whose powerful and wealthy members recruit, finance, and arm its poorest but vicious fighters to attack and kill Benue people.
He said the agenda of Fulani herdsmen is to destroy Benue’s economy and promote their own economic interest; dominate Benue politically; and destroy the personality of Benue people, including how they think; what they believe in; how they relate to one another and to their Creator.
He said the aim of the Fulani herdsmen is total domination, adding that between 1800 and 2018 Benue people have been under attack by this organised evil.
Ayu stated that Nigeria is governed by a constitution, which gives power to designated authorities to protect the people as citizens and punish those that violate its provisions.
“We are not protected. Rather it is the violators that are openly shielded and encouraged to undermine the Nigerian Constitution. Attacking and killing citizens of Nigeria en mass by an armed organization is attacking the Nigerian State.When those we put in authority shield and protect this armed and murderous organization, they become accomplices not just in crime but in undermining Nigeria,” Ayu added.
He further stated that no right thinking person of Benue origin has any confidence that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will protect them, adding that as a democracy the people must come together and consider the best ways of self-preservation.
“Once we organise, unite and develop concrete steps to take and survive we must reach out to others who are under similar threats,” he added.
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