Herdsmen from different parts of Nigeria
have stated that nobody can stop them from grazing their cattle in any
part of the country, especially in the south. They described such
restriction as unconstitutional.
The nomads, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH
under the auspices of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association,
dismissed the ultimatums given by different groups for the herdsmen to
vacate the southern part of the country.
This is despite the fact that groups,
including foremost Yoruba farmers’ pressure group and ethnic militia,
Agbekoya Farmers Association of Nigeria in the South-West; the Movement
for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (South-East); the
Independent Peoples of Biafra (South-East); and some ex-Niger Delta
militants in the South-South, stated their readiness to defend their
territories should herdsmen attack their communities again.
Suspected Fulani herdsmen, who grazed
their cattle from the northern part of the country to the southern part,
had been accused of killing, raping and robbing members of their host
communities.
The Enugu incident, where several lives were lost, was the most recent.
But the herdsmen, in separate interviews
with our correspondents on Saturday, noted that it was wrong for people
to restrict their movement as the constitution guaranteed their
movement into any part of the country.
The Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle
Breeders Association, Plateau State, Mr. Nuru Abdullahi, said nobody
could deprive Fulani herdsmen of their constitutional right of free
movement.
Abdullahi said, “Why would they ask them
not to go to the southern part of the country? It is their
constitutional right to move freely as guaranteed by the laws of the
land. What the various governments and security agencies should do is to
prevent attacks and counter-attacks and such things that breed violence
like cattle rustling and trespassing into farmlands.
“The Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria guarantees freedom of movement for every citizen of
the country; this includes the right to live, work and carry out any
legitimate activity in any part of the country. If and when you breach
this freedom, then, the law should deal with you. So, asking anybody not
to go to any part of the country is unconstitutional.”
Also, the Chairman, MCBAN, North-West
Zone, Mr. Ardo Ahmadu Suleiman, warned against criminalising all Fulani
herdsmen over the attacks.
He said, “We are law abiding citizens of
Nigeria. The constitution forbids anybody or group from banning
anybody’s movement from one part of the country to another. We have been
staying peacefully with tribes across the country for ages. Therefore,
for anyone to say he wants to ban Fulani from entering their land is
uncalled for.”
However, several socio-cultural and
militia groups in the southern part of the country on Saturday stated
their readiness to reject the invasion of their communities by Fulani
herdsmen.
Agbekoya gave the Federal Government a
14-day ultimatum to stop the incessant attacks by suspected Fulani
herdsmen on farmers in Yorubaland even as it vowed to retaliate any
attack on its members.
The position of the group was made known
by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olatunji Bandele, in a
telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Saturday.
According to Bandele, if the Federal
Government fails to act decisively within the stipulated time, the
Agbekoya will have to defend its people with whatever means at its
disposal.
Bandele said the association held an
emergency meeting last Thursday where it discussed the incessant
onslaught by Fulani herdsmen against Yoruba farmers, especially in the
Oke Ogun area of Oyo State.
He stated that if the situation was not
brought under control, the group would “close down all markets in the
South West; make sure that Fulani herdsmen do not enter any village in
Yoruba land with their cows. And if they dare enter, they are doing it
at their own risk.
“We have alerted Agbekoya South West
warriors across Yorubaland to be battle ready in case the Fulani
herdsmen do not heed our warning because this thing has continued for
the past four to five years now.”
Bandele added, “We have other security
measures that we are taking but keeping to ourselves. If the Fulani
herdsmen failed to heed our warning and they dare enter Yorubaland, they
will be doing so at their own risk. We are waiting for the Federal
Government to take decisive action.”
The deadline, he added, started to read from last Thursday.
Asked if the group was now arming its
members against the reported sophisticated fire arms of the suspected
herdsmen, Bandele said, “We are not bothered with whether they carry
arms or not, we will deal with the Fulani herdsmen hands down. We have
done it before. The Agbekoya fought a 14-month war with the military.
That was in 1968/69. We have instructed our warriors. Anywhere they kill
farmers again, we will move in.”
Asked what the association would do per chance any part of Yoruba land was attacked, he said, “We will retaliate.”
The leader of MASSOB, Mr. Uchenna Madu,
lamented that Igbo people had been “talking and talking” while they
watched their people being killed. He stated that it was time for
“action” to end killings by herdsmen.
Madu said, “The Fulani herdsmen are
cowards. After the recent attacks, they ran away. If they mean business,
let them wait for Ndi’gbo and we will engage them man-to-man.
“It will be demeaning to ask us if we have the capability to confront them.”
IPOB, another Igbo secessionist group
which dismissed security agencies as failing to secure the people,
alleged that Boko Haram had been disguising as herdsmen to attack parts
of the country.
The Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr.
Emma Powerful, stated that the group would not be at the forefront of
reprisals against criminal herdsmen in the region but would encourage
those under attack to defend and retaliate in self defence.
He said, “The world is watching IPOB;
the plan was for us to retaliate the attacks by Fulani herdsmen but we
will not do so. Rather, we will ask those who are under attack to defend
themselves or get killed.
“The international rule is that you have
the right to self defence if your life is under threat; security
agencies know that. Face whatever or whoever is going to kill you or you
die.”
Another Yoruba group, Oodua Peoples
Congress, said although the Yoruba were perceived as accommodating, the
group would not sit by and pretend as if all was well.
The National Coordinator of the OPC, Mr.
Gani Adams, told one of our correspondents in a telephone interview
that the attacks by Fulani herdsmen in the region had gone out of hand.
Adams said, “Nowadays, it is becoming
too rampant in the South-West. Now, nobody is provoking the Fulani
herdsmen; they are the ones taking laws into their hands, killing and
maiming innocent people in their (victims’) communities.
“These Fulani herdsmen may even be Boko
Haram in disguise. If government is looking at this as if they are an
influential tribe or race in Nigeria and that they can’t tackle it, it
may become a very serious security treat.
“We the Yoruba think that we are highly
accommodating and that if a stranger who is living in our community has
committed an offence, the law should take its own course. But I know for
sure that the South-East will not allow their people to be maimed.”
The Chairman of MCBAN in Bauchi State, Abdullahi Abubakar, told SUNDAY PUNCH that
the association was planning to hold an emergency executive meeting on
Monday or Tuesday to discuss the issues affecting herdsmen.
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of
Nigeria and the National Association of Nigerian Students have called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to come out boldly and tackle the problem.
The Chairman of CAN in the 19 Northern
States, Rev. Yakubu Pam, said the President needed to be courageous in
tackling his own people and condemning their terrible activities
posted by Oscar Jonathan
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