The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: herdsmen

  • Tinubu and The Bad Roads Not Taken

    Tinubu and The Bad Roads Not Taken

    -By Abdul Mahmud

    “I couldn’t reach Yelawata in Benue State due to bad roads”, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This sentence captures the spirit of Tinubu’s presidency. Aloof. Detached. Cold. Inconsiderate. Leadership without compassion. Governance without sacrifice. Authority without empathy. How did Mandela once describe compassion? He said, “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other, not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” In those words lie the moral clarity of leadership: to feel with others, and to act in ways that dignify their pain. But in the hour when the people of Benue cried out beneath the weight of their grief, when blood soaked their soil and hope withered on parched lips, President Tinubu neither spoke with the tenderness the moment demanded nor did he offer comfort. Instead, he stood, quartered only to the state-organised gyre, where falcons heeded the call of the lying falconer while unburdened by the anguish of the listeners, unmoved by the cries circling beneath his silence.

    I return to the scene of the crime. Yelawata, in Benue State, is soaked in blood. Again. Victims of another attack. Not the first in the state. Sadly, not likely the last. Men butchered. Women slaughtered. Children silenced by bullets and machetes. Bodies burnt. Farmers buried in shallow graves. A people under siege, paying with their lives for living on ancestral land. And the President? He dilly-dallied like Nero until he was forced out of Aso Rock. When he eventually turned up in Benue State, he didn’t go to Yelawata.

    Why? The roads were bad.

    That excuse tells us everything. It tells us Tinubu doesn’t see governance as a sacrifice. It tells us he sees power as comfort, not service. That he is more concerned with personal convenience than national grief. That to him, bad roads are a reason not to visit, not a call to action. The road to Yelwata was too rough for his usual long motorcade. But is the road to governance not paved with sacrifice? A president should go where pain is deepest. He should stand with the broken. Weep with the grieving. Reassure the fearful. But Tinubu stayed away.  He dispatched men like Sunday Dare and Bayo Onanuga; envoys who, upon arrival, shielded their nostrils with cupped palms, as though the stench of death and despair in Yelawata were too profane for their privileged lungs. They came not to mourn, but to manage optics; not to grieve with the grieving, but to distance themselves from the human wreckage their master could not bear to face. He sent words instead of presence. He chose distance over duty.

    What is the worth of a ruler who cannot be troubled by the suffering of his people? Presidents do not have the luxury of comfort. They are servants, not absolute monarchs. They must lead from the front, even through valleys of blood. When George W. Bush visited Ground Zero after 9/11, he climbed the rubble. When Barack Obama went to Newtown after the school shooting, he wept with the parents. When Nelson Mandela walked into the ruins of apartheid violence, he held grieving mothers and swore it would never happen again.

    Tinubu avoided Yelawata. Then insulted the people. He claimed the killings were reprisal attacks. Without evidence. Without tact. Without truth. He invariably blamed the victims. He called them the culprits. He rewrote a genocide into justification. And when he finally arrived Makurdi, it was under pressure. Nigerians had cried. Protested. Shamed him into action. So, he adjusted his diary.

    That adjustment came too late. In Makurdi, school children were drenched by rain, lined up to wave flags at a president who couldn’t be bothered to dry their tears. In front of the Tor Tiv, the King of the Tiv, Tinubu’s lies crumbled. The monarch told him to his face: “These are not reprisals. They are genocidal. They aim to wipe out our people.” It was a moment of truth. The kind only kings and corpses can speak. Tinubu had no answer. After the Royal smack-down, he chose not to make it to Yelawata. He contrived an excuse: the roads were not motorable. A helicopter couldn’t be arranged. A convoy couldn’t roll. A man who uses presidential jets to vacation in France; and who is billed for luxurious holidays in the sunshine of Saint Lucia couldn’t find a way to reach grieving Nigerians at home.

    Now, the question many are eager to ask: What does it cost to show empathy? What does it take to be present in pain? In Tinubu’s case, apparently too much. This presidency has reduced governance to showmanship. It is all optics, no substance. Press releases instead of policies. Travel photographs instead of action. Ceremonies instead of compassion. Tinubu has become a distant figure. A president of Abuja, not of Nigeria. He rules from marble offices, not the muddy fields of the countryside. From Lagos business tables, not farming communities in Benue. He governs through statements, not presence. Through silence, not sympathy. The tragedy of this moment isn’t just the deaths in Yelawata. It is the erosion of leadership. It is about a man who sees the office of president as the crowning of a personal ambition, not a platform for national healing. A man who imagines governance is a reward, not a responsibility. This needs to be put out more plainly: this is not leadership. This is negligence. Tinubu’s refusal to visit the scene of the carnage, his false statements about the cause and his delay in responding to the tragedy that befell our country all points to a leader who doesn’t feel the country’s pain. One who doesn’t carry the emotional weight of his office.

    What happened in Benue is part of a pattern.

    Tinubu’s second year in office has been marked by detachment. Nigerians groan under inflation. Food is unaffordable. Electricity is a myth. Fuel prices break the backs of ordinary citizens. Unlike the back David Diop so powerfully evoked in his acclaimed poem, Africa, unbent, “that never breaks under the weight of humiliation”. The backs of ordinary citizens stoop beneath the burden of betrayal. Yet the president travels. Dines. Celebrates. Appoints cronies. Signs inflated budgets. Adds more burden to weary citizens. There is no compassion in his policies. No empathy in his speeches. No connection in his actions. A caring ruler would reduce his convoys. Tinubu expanded them. A president with empathy would cut down waste. Tinubu has increased waste. A ruler in tune with citizens would share in their sufferings. Tinubu asks them to “tighten belts” while he loosens his.

    To govern a country requires moral courage. Tinubu’s response to national pain is indifference. His answer to cries is silence. His reaction to mass murder is a shrug. Then, where lies the heart of his rulership? Not in Benue. Not in Zamfara. Not in Plateau. Not in the IDP camps. Not in the shanties. Not in the markets. The heart of this government beats only for the rich, the powerful, and his coterie of handlers. For friends in Lagos. For loyalists in government houses. For image-makers. Not for the rest of us.

    The presidency should be the conscience of the nation. Under Tinubu, it has become a billboard. A brand. A throne without soul. It is not just his failure to visit Yelawata that is tragic. It is the symbolism of it. It tells the story of a man who doesn’t understand the weight of grief. Who doesn’t see the power of presence. Who thinks governance is about roads, not relationships. Even if the roads were bad, there were other options. Helicopters. Courage. Love. Anything but absence. But he chose to stay away, which speaks volumes. It says, “You are on your own”, O-YO! “You are not worth the trouble.” It says, “Your pain is inconvenient.” It says, “I’ll mourn you from a distance.” A president who cannot brave bad roads for his people cannot lead them through harder paths. But, here is the deeper tragedy: the road to Yelawata isn’t the only one Tinubu refused to travel. He has refused the road of humility. Of compassion. Of moral leadership. He has chosen another path; the road of entitlement, indulgence, and imperial comfort.

    Our country is ruled by a man who cannot be disturbed. But, our country is disturbing. It cries out from every state. It begs for presence. For proximity. For a ruler who shows up. In person. Not by proxy. Until that happens, we will continue to drift.

    Governance is not about the ease of travel. It is about the urgency of compassion. It is not about what is motorable. It is about what is moral. Tinubu failed this test. In the hour of grief, he was absent. In the moment of truth, he deflected. In the face of pain, he excused. He cannot build our country from behind the presidential walls. He must descend his Olympian height. Step into our blood-soaked earth. Walk with the wounded. Cry with the survivors. Stand with the forgotten.

    Or step aside. Our country deserves more. Being the president shouldn’t be taken as a title, with all the pomp to boot. It is a task. It is not the celebration of personal ambition. It is the surrender of comfort for the sake of others. It is not about dodging bad roads. It is about building better ones and still traveling the worst ones when duty calls. Until Tinubu understands this, he will remain a stranger to his office. A visitor in his own country. A ruler, not a leader.

    While he pretends that the tragedy in Benue is “an internecine clash of neighbours”, to quote my friend, Josephine Akioyamen, the people of Benue must dig in to defend themselves against the rampaging Fulani conquistadors, Yelawata will remember his indifference. Just as our country remembers. The world will not forget.

  • FG supports Herdsmen planned suit against south Governors.

     

    The Federal Government on Sunday threw its weight behind moves by herdsmen to sue southern governors over the anti-open grazing bill they recently signed into law.

     

    The Special Assistant (Media) to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Dr Umar Gwandu, who disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH, said Nigerians whose rights had been violated could go to court to seek protection.

     

    Gwandu stated this as state police commands on Sunday differed on the enforcement of the law.

     

    While Ebonyi and Osun state police commands told our correspondents that they would enforce the law, a source in the Lagos State Police Command stated that the police would only provide protection to the enforcement team of the state.

     

    The Rivers State Police Commissioner, Friday Eboka, on his part said he had not seen a copy of the state anti-open grazing law.

     

    But a top police officer told one of our correspondents that it would be difficult for state commands to enforce the law without the support of force headquarters.

     

    Most southern states, including Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Abia, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, and just recently, Delta and Ogun states,  signed the anti-open grazing bill into law.

     

    The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore group, while reacting to the passage of the law in the southern states, described it as ‘satanic’ and ‘politically motivated,’ adding that it would sue the governors over the law.

     

    The National Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore group, Selah Alhassan, told Sunday PUNCH, threatened that the group would sue the southern governors.

     

    Gwandu, in an interview with one of our correspondents, stated, “The rights trampled upon are individual rights of Nigerians as constitutionally guaranteed.

     

    “The Nigerians whose rights are violated reserve the right to approach the court for the protection of such rights within the context of freedom of movement among others. It will be viewed with that consideration in mind.”

     

    Anti-open grazing: We’ll arrest, prosecute offenders, say Ebonyi police

    In Ebonyi State, the state Police Command says it will arrest and prosecute violators of the anti-open grazing law in the state.

     

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Aliyu Garba, stated this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abakaliki, on Sunday.

     

    When asked if the police would enforce the law,  Garba asked, “Why not? We will arrest and prosecute offenders. Come with a complaint and see whether it is not going to be attended to.”

     

    Also, the Ogun State Police Command said that it was ready to implement the anti-open grazing law in the state as soon as possible.

     

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said this in a chat with one of our correspondents in Abeokuta.

     

    When asked when the police would begin the implementation, Oyeyemi said,  “We will begin as soon as possible.”

     

    We’ll enforce open-grazing prohibition law better than police – Rivers vigilante

    A popular vigilante group in Rivers State, Diobu Security Service,  also said it would enforce the law.

     

    The Chairman of the Diobu vigilante, Prince Amatari who said during an interview with one of our correspondents said the group would enforce the law better than the police because of its presence in the rural areas.

    “We have said that the security architecture should be decentralised because the responsibility of the police is much.

     

    “And the police have not been able to effectively carry out their duties because the entire nation relies on them. If  arrests are made by other security agencies, including the Army, they take such persons to the police.”

     

    I haven’t seen the law – Rivers CP

    When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Friday Eboka said, “They (the state government) have not passed the law to us. I have not seen it.”

     

    Asked if the command was ready to enforce anti-open grazing law in the state, Osun Police Command said as law enforcers, it was duty bound to enforce any law made by the government.

     

    The spokesperson for the command, Yemisi Opalola, said police in the state would enforce any law made.

     

    She said, “We are law enforcers. Our duty is to enforce the law made by the government. We will enforce any law made by government in the state.”

     

    Lagos police will only provide security for enforcement team – Source

    Reacting to the readiness of the police command in enforcing the anti-open grazing law in Lagos State, a police source said the responsibility of the police was to provide security for the enforcement team established by the state government to enforce the law.

     

    “There is an enforcement team to be established by the state government to enforce the law and when the enforcement team is established, the police will provide security during enforcement.

     

    “The enforcement team is going to be trained and empowered by the state government, and a place like a ranch will also be established to keep the cows until the fine is paid.

     

    “But the job of the police is to give protection to the enforcement team during enforcement of the law in the state. The enforcement team has not been established, it is when the team is established that enforcement will be in full swing,” the source said.

     

    Enforcement has begun, culprit arrested – Ondo Amotekun

    The Ondo State Command of the Security Network Agency also known as Amotekun stated that enforcement of the state anti-open grazing law had commenced as some herders and cows had been arrested and dealt with according to the law.

     

    The state Commander of the corps, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, said a number of cows and herders had been arrested and they were made to pay fine and signed an undertaking not to violate the law again.

     

    He said “After the law has been signed, we arrested over 180 cows, together with some herders. We have a number of herders that have been arrested we are making them to comply with the enacted law which stipulates penalty for defaulting herders.

     

    “The position of the law is that, if they choose to go to court, we would implement the law as it is stated, which stipulates the minimum of N100, 000 fine or three years imprisonment.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Killer Herdsmen: Gov. Oyetola recruits 1,110 Amotekun operatives, vigilantes

    Killer Herdsmen: Gov. Oyetola recruits 1,110 Amotekun operatives, vigilantes

    At least one thousand Amotekun operatives and vigilantes have been recruited to keep Osun residents safe from killer herdsmen and other criminals, says Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

    He stated this on Tuesday as he inaugurated 360 newly-recruited operatives of the State Security Network Agency, known as ‘Amotekun Corps.

    The inauguration followed the completion of a 23-day intensive training by the personnel for professional savvy and the task ahead.

    Speaking at the ceremony in Ejigbo, Mr Oyetola said, “All Osun citizens must own the corps and provide them with information that will help them to effectively protect us. Amotekun is created to collaborate with the security agencies, the vigilante group, as well as hunters across the state.”

    The governor noted that security was critical to “our developmental agenda and a strategy for revolutionising” the state’s economy.

    “Consequently,” he told the corps, “you have a crucial role to play in attaining this noble objective. You must, therefore, secure the state with integrity, civility and a high sense of responsibility.”

    Even with armed robbery and kidnapping incidents, Mr Oyetola described Osun as “a peaceful” state.

    “We all have a responsibility to sustain our ranking as the Most Peaceful State’ in the nation,” he stated. “It is on this note that I implore all the citizens of the state to cooperate with the Amotekun Corps operatives to make security management easy and peaceful so that we can deliver a strong and prosperous Osun.”

    The governor, who commended security agencies in the state for their services, assured that the government would continue to support them.

    He disclosed that the state government had bought 20 security vehicles with communication gadgets to support security operatives in discharging their responsibilities.

     

    “We have recruited 750 vigilantes across all local governments in the state to provide intelligence on the activities and suspicious movements of criminals to the officials of Amotekun,” added the governor. “We shall continue to provide all the equipment necessary for the successful prosecution of security and execution of the ‘Amotekun Project’.”

    (Peoples Gazette)

  • Why would the Military and Police Attack two Communities in Enugu Simply because they dismissed Herdsmen who were terrorising the area

    There is tension in Enugu State as men of the Nigerian Army reportedly invaded two communities in the Nkanu East and Nkanu West local government areas of the state.

     

    PUNCH Metro gathered that the affected communities are Ekpoffo and Akpugo.

     

    Although the reason for the invasion could not be immediately ascertained, villagers who spoke from their hidings told our correspondent on Thursday it might not be unconnected with the recent sacking of herdsmen who were terrorising the area.

     

    Some also believed that the invasion could be the directive of the Presidency to security agencies to hunt down Biafran agitators in the South-East region.

     

    Community sources told our correspondent that the soldiers invaded Ekpoffo on Wednesday and whisked away some youths to unknown destinations.

     

    A source said, “Soldiers numbering over 100 stormed Ekpoffo community in Nkanu East around 7.30pm on Wednesday. They moved from place to place, ransacking houses. Before then, they had blocked major roads leading to the community before swooping on the residents.

     

    “I don’t know how many people were abducted yesterday (Wednesday). They were looking for our youths, but many of them had run away.”

     

     

    The source also noted that the soldiers returned on Thursday with policemen and personnel of the Department of State Services and blocked all access roads leading to the community.

     

    Another community source told our correspondent that the soldiers also invaded Ndiagu- Akpugo community and razed some houses.

     

    “They went to the house belonging to a man popularly known as Bebia at Ugwu-agba in Ndiagu-Akpugo. They didn’t see anyone, so the soldiers set the house ablaze.

     

    “As I am speaking to you, our young men have run away and some members of the community are relocating to the state capital in fear for their lives,” he added.

     

    The traditional ruler of Adamagu Akpawfu community, Igwe Christopher Nnamani, who resides in the Enugu metropolis, said he received several phone calls from his subjects informing him of the invasion.

     

    “I am on my way to my palace; come there so I can see who I am speaking with. I won’t like to speak with someone I have not seen on the telephone,” he said.

     

    The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Enugu, Col. Abubakar Abdullahi, declined comment when contacted by our correspondent on the incident.

     

     

    He also did not respond to text messages as of the time of filing this report.

     

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, when contacted  on the telephone also declined comment.

     

    He later switched off his phone.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Cocoa and Plaintain Farmers asks Buhari to save them from herdsmen attack through an SOS message

    The Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria (CPFAN) has sent a save-our-soul message to President Muhammadu Buhari over the destruction of farms and killing of farmers by criminal herdsmen.

     

    The farmers, who spoke at a press conference in Akure, warned that food production in the country would nosedive if the activities of herdsmen were not checked.

     

    National President of CPFAN, Chief Ayodele Ojo, said farmers need protection to go their farms.

     

    Chief Ojo, however, commended President Buhari for providing “effective fire-fighting equipment to solve some of our endemic agricultural problems.”

     

    Ojo said the fire-fighting pump was useful in putting out fire on their farms during the dry season.

     

    He noted that the over 28,000 members of COFAN in 20 states currently cultivated more than 20,000 hectares, and have the potential to cultivate more than 50,000 hectares.

     

    He called for CPFAN members to be included in the medium term credit facility and N-CARES project as well as other Federal Government interventions.

     

    Other needs for farmers, according to him, include motorised sprayers, mechanical diggers for planting plantain, solo sprayers, agrochemicals, improved cocoa seedlings and plantain suckers.

     

    Chief Ojo further appealed for Federal Government’s assistance in capacity building for farmers to meet up with international market standard in terms of post-harvesting handling and packaging of  plantain and cocoa.

     

     

     

    Source: www.thenationonlineng.net

  • Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen kill 7 in Edo State

     

    GUNMEN suspected to be herdsmen have reportedly killed seven persons, including farmers at Ugboke, Oshodi, Okokodo, Ariyan and Yoruba Camp in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.

     

    Meanwhile, the PPRO of the State Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident and said all efforts were being made to arrest the perpetrators.

     

    According to Mrs Janet Ighodaro, an indigene of the area, the residents were caught unawares by the blood-thirsty herdsmen.

     

    She said, “The suspected herdsmen took over the popularly know Yoruba camp located in Ovia North-East as a base to launch attack into various communities in our state.

     

    “Four of the victims were returning from their farm when they were shot and killed on the spot. I was lucky to escape and I am currently in Benin where I am putting up with family members.”

     

    She lamented that the gruesome attack on the camps and communities was reported to the police, adding that security presence in the locality was zero.

     

    Ighodaro stressed that the policemen, who came to the area on Thursday after the dastardly act, only stopped at Okokhua community.

     

    She added that the policemen insisted that they would not to go further, but instructed the affected communities to bring the dead bodies to them at Okokhuo.

     

    Nwabuzor confirmed the incident and promised that the criminals would be arrested and brought to justice.

     

    He said, “The DPO and his operatives visited the crime site and evacuated the bodies while moves are on to ensure that the place is calm and liv es return to normalcy.”

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Cattle Breeders Association Criticizes herders census in the country

    Cattle Breeders Association Criticizes herders census in the country

    An association of pastoralists, the Kulen Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, has criticised the proposed herders/livestock census in the country.

    The association, in a statement on Monday by its National President, Khalil Mohammed, said the proposed census agreed to by another group, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, was in bad light.

    Mohammed alleged that the MACBAN leadership initiated the herders/livestock census during a meeting with some southern governors in Akure, Ondo State.

    He stated, “Though we are not objecting to people’s freedom of speech/expression of their opinions in all matters of national interest as stipulated in our well cherished constitution and in the United Nation Charter of 1945, but as one of Nigeria’s pastoralist stakeholders, who are keenly interested in anything related to the nation’s pastoral occupation, we strongly oppose and reject in totality anything to do with isolationism or exclusive counting of any tribe in Nigeria through the herders/livestock census as opined by one of our sister association.

    “Our condemnation and strong objection to the said whimsical or myopic proposed counting has to do with the following tentative reasons: It is the first time in the history of Nigeria that a single tribe out of over 200 tribes initiates to be singly counted for a reason only known to itself; the herders will be cocooned and marooned in their fatherland by restricting their free movement in their struggle for survival in search of animal pasture and water points for their livestock.”

    Mohammed lamented that the proposed census negated the nation’s constitution, which stated that no tribe name would be mentioned during conduct of any census.

    He added that the counting and documentation of herders and their livestock at this time of serious unrest would make them to be seen as criminals in the eyes of other Nigerians.

    Mohammed, while stating that the outcome of the census would be disputed by everyone, said, “Above all, according to Nigeria’s rigid constitution, it is only the National Population Commission that is responsible for carrying out population census and not an individual group.

    “Likewise, it is only the Directorate of Animal Husbandry Services of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that is responsible for conducting census or estimation of the country’s livestock.”

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Herdsmen: Sunday Igboho calls out the Ooni of Ife for not relating The President the seriousness of the recent herdsmen crisis

     

     

    Popular Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, has said the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, disappointed the Yoruba people when he visited the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), of recent over the herdsmen crisis rocking the South-West region.

     

    The activist stated this on Wednesday morning at a virtual ‘Townhall With Yoruba In Diaspora’ monitored by The PUNCH.

     

     

    According to him, the monarch failed to convey the pains and displeasure of the Yoruba people to the President during the visit.

     

    The PUNCH had reported that Igboho issued a seven-day quit notice to herdsmen accused of sundry crimes in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State and enforced same.

     

    Oba Ogunwusi after meeting the President, however, urged Igboho not to take laws into his hands.

     

    The monarch had said though Igboho has done well to speak for the downtrodden, it was time he allowed the constituted authorities including the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, to take charge and handle the security challenges in the state.

     

    But the activist said some politicians were behind Ooni’s latest move, adding that the monarch disappointed the Yoruba people by not speaking against the killer herdsmen in the region when he met with the President.

     

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    Igboho said, “The monarchs are now afraid but we must keep praying for them to be united with one voice. They should not be afraid of arrest at their age. Some of them don’t even grant audience at their palaces any longer. So, everything is now in God’s hands.

     

    “When Ooni met with Buhari over the herdsmen issue, Ooni should have told Buhari the truth but he did not. When Ooni returned, he started tackling me to leave the remaining task to the government to finish. You can imagine that kind of talk?

     

    “Alaafin of Oyo has asked me to meet him over the matter. Alaafin should have been the one invited to meet Buhari but since the Ooni was invited, he should be bold to tell the President the whole truth and make the demands of the Yoruba people known to the President.”

     

    [

     

    “The Ooni disappointed himself. Some politicians are behind Ooni’s latest move. He invited me to his palace but I refused to go. I would have gone if he had represented us well but he did not. I won’t honour any monarch who does not cooperate with me. Enough is enough, the Fulani have done enough,” the activist submitted in the teleconfer ence.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Northern leaders complain over alleged attack on fulani

     

    Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has lamented alleged attacks on Fulani herders in some states in the South East and South West, and appealed to President Muhammdu Buhari, State governors and the police to intervene.

    NEF, in a statement, yesterday, by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, warned against the profiling of Fulani as terrorists and kidnappers, explaining that not all of them indulge in such act.

    He said: “Northern Elders Forum (NEF) is deeply worried by reports of ejections under threats and attacks on Fulani herders, families and communities in some states of the South.

    “The Forum has been receiving these reports since the night of Sunday, January 31, and had taken the responsible step by drawing the attention of authorities to the dangers which these attacks represent for all Nigerians.

    “We have also advised law-abiding Fulani communities to seek protection where it is available, and have appealed to other Fulani to resist the temptation to take the law into their own hands.

    “It is necessary to warn people who threaten law-abiding Fulani communities in all parts of Nigeria, but, particularly, in some parts of the South, to desist.

    “The vast majority of Fulani are law-abiding and have rights to live lawfully wherever they can find means of subsistence.

    “Like all Nigerians who can be found in every inch of Nigeria, the rights of the Fulani will not be abridged by criminals hiding behind ethnic interests to exterminate them.

    “Citizens and groups who play the role of police and other law-enforcement agencies are committing crimes, and they must be stopped by leaders who are sworn to protect the law and security of all Nigerians.

    “The Forum reminds the nation that there are criminals in all ethnic groups, and the nation will be treading dangerous grounds if it continues to tolerate the demonisation of entire groups over particular types of crimes.

    “The Forum calls on President Muhammadu Buhari and State governors to take immediate and decisive steps to protect law-abiding members of Fulani communities from killers and criminals who apparently believe that Fulani have no rights in Nigeria.

    “It demands the immediate arrest and prosecution of persons who are attacking Fulani and setting the country on a very dangerous path.

    “The Forum repeats its earlier position that the Fulani will not be ejected from any Nigerian community only on the basis of being Fulani or herding cattle within the limits of laws and regulations.

    “States which seek to limit criminal activities are perfectly entitled to do so, but they must follow due process and avoid exposing innocent citizens to danger at all costs.

    “The Forum demands that the Nigeria Police must live up to its constitutional responsibility to detect crimes and arrest and prosecute criminals, whoever they are…”

    Reacting, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere Renewal Group and Middle Belt Forum have berated the Northern Elders Forum and accused the group of being economical with the truth on allegations that herders in the South were being attacked.

    Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, spokesman of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin and President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, in separate telephone interviews with Daily Sun, urged the NEF to urge President Buhari to implement uniform policies on cattle ranching rather than whipping up sentiments.

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • Herdsmen wreaking havoc, leaving a trail of destruction on their way out of Ondo

     

     

    Ayede Ogbese is one of the communities in Ondo State , where Fulani herdsmen are wreaking havoc.  In this interview with PETER DADA,  Chief Oladimeji Abitogun,  the Odopetu of Ayede Ogbese   in the Akure North Local Government Area, speaks about the spate of insecurity in the state and Nigeria as a whole

     

    In recent times, the kidnappings that have occurred along Akure-Owo Expressway between Ayede Ogbese and Uso communities are alarming. As a traditional chief, why do you think this is happening in your domain?

     

    The fact of the matter is that at a point between the Ogbese River; which is our patrimony and very important to the people of Ayede-Ogbese; between that point and the community of Uso, you would understand that there are linguistic, geographical and cultural affinities between the people of Ayede-Ogbese and Uso. That certain area known as Oke-Odo, Kajola in Uso is where you would find these activities of Fulani militias who are armed to the teeth and ready to kill. They come to the highway,  a major highway linking South-West with the northern part of the country and the South-South as well as the eastern part of Nigeria. So, they use that strategic location to stage their dastardly often murderous kidnappings. Until recently, we didn’t even know that some of them had taken refuge in our community.

     

    So, the description that our community has become a place of refuge to these people may not be totally correct. The political correctness and the constitution of this county would say all of us can live together, but you’ll find the Fulani from their historical antecedent often displaying this tendency to f invade different tribes of Nigeria, if need be, take over the leadership, kill and ultimately install themselves as a kind of caliphate and seize the instrument of governance. The most visible will be the case of Ilorin.

     

    Even as I’m talking to you, in Southern Kaduna, these people have sacked indigenes and installed themselves as overlords in more than 147 towns and villages. That is not going to happen here.

    You said what they were trying to do is not going to happen here. What are those things they are trying to do?

     

    I’m not just the third ranking chief in Ayede-Ogbese kingdom, professionally, I’m a journalist. Words matters to us. Beyond that, I have a degree in English, Literary and Curriculum Studies. What they are trying to do is so clear to everybody. You know that from the intelligence available to the leadership of our kingdom. These people will come, pretend they have a genuine agenda of integrating with the people in the community and they are armless. But if I start to count on the tip of my fingers, you’ll understand that even when they say they are coming for simple things like basic health facilities, you’ll see under their clothes dagger and swords sheathed. For what purpose is that? Sometimes, we get so proactive. We begin to collect those swords from them. You can’t be bringing things like that into medical facilities.

     

    Sometimes they enter our markets with swords under their clothes. Of course, we have a very big cosmopolitan market in our community. The market is patronized from the entire West Africa sub-region, and then somebody comes into that market carrying  a sword. To do what? That is the one that is so visible. The one we also know is that under the animals they rear, they wrap AK-47 . You would think it’s their personal wears and foodstuff .

     

    We are aware from what some of the freed hostages told us that when they collect that ransom, they don’t even know the denomination. That means they are illiterate. Some of them do not even speak the Nigerian variant of Fulfude, which is the language of the Fulani people. If you want to start a conversation with them in simple English, they don’t even understand because they speak French.

     

    They believe in the unity of the Fulani nation across wherever they exist in Africa. So, they think they’re coming here to give consolidation to interest that are not clear, to struggles that are not known to anybody and to individuals not completely loyal to the Nigeria nation.

     

    In your submission, you believe that they are not Nigerians. How did you say they were consolidating an interest in Nigeria?

     

    It’s not difficult to know. For example, the people and the government of Ondo State took a fundamental position; something that is backed by the constitution; that these people cannot continue to illegally occupy Government Forest Reserves. The herders themselves did not speak. A voice echoed from the seat of power in Abuja. Isn’t that enough indication that they think you’re hurting one of their own out there. Peace loving Nigerians actually voted whoever that is leading this country today. These people that they are defending;  I’m sure they never even voted. While the rest of us were in the queue exercising our franchise as free citizens of Nigeria, remember that these people were plotting how to kill the majority of us, how to prevent us from exercising our voting rights. And then, we defied  all of these to put the government in power. Only for the certain operatives of the  government to start using the instrument of state to defend lawlessness.

     

    Few days ago, there was a meeting where everybody agreed with what Governor Akeredolu has done by giving that four-point order. Even the representatives of the MACBAN supported it. Do you see sincerity in their purported support?

     

    Honestly, I don’t. The preliminary comments made by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, was almost going to scape-goat the media, saying the intent and purpose of what Governor Akeredolu said was misconstrued in the media. Which media? You don’t know that when you take on the media as a major institution like that anywhere in the world, you’re really trying to bring the nation itself down. Honestly, people tend to see governance and democracy as event. Governor Fayemi is in a position to know better. He was a practising journalist at a time as well as an agitator and a pro-democracy activist. I give that to him.

     

    From the look of things and with what Miyetti Allah said, the position of Governor Akeredolu is unassailable.  The bad eggs should be fished out and their members in the forest should get government permission. What they are not telling the world which we now know is that the Bororo, the cattle Fulanis,  do not even interact.

     

    They don’t have respect for the liberated Fulanis. So, for all we can care, everything that transpired at the meeting, the Fulani ethnic militia operate by an agenda that is uttered and directed and anchored by the devil. The other people, decent as they are, may not be able to speak to the minds, agenda and actions of the violent Fulani.

     

    And guess what, since the expiration of the seven days ultimatum given by the government of Ondo State, what have they been doing in the forests? Yes, they are leaving the forest reserves, but on their paths, they’re leaving on their trail blood, destruction, sorrow, tears.

     

    Coming out in a huge exodus and destroying everything they see on the way. They are not just using AK-47.

     

    As a traditional chief who is close to the people, what do you think can be done to flush the criminal herders out of your domain?

     

    Honestly, I’ve a confession, if you ask me about what can be done, I look at  a the solution that was applied in a place like Ijare Community ( where lightening killed 36 cows)  No matter how crazy the Fulani ethnic militias today, he will not venture into Ijare. Secondly, I look at the Sunday Igboho , maybe it’s a matter of boldness and courage but it takes the extraordinary for somebody to disarm a Fulani militia firing AK-47. That kind of boldness in Sunday Igboho is something that has to be replicated.

     

    You are commending Igboho for the steps he took, but some people are crucifying him for doing that. What is your take?

     

    Who are the ones saying that? I’ve not heard that. On the contrary, people are misinterpreting the initial silence of a section of the leadership of the South-West. For example, they said Iba Gani Adams did not speak so early as the Aare Ona Kakanfo but as a traditional generalisimo, he said he was studying the situation and looking at the intelligence behind it all. And fundamentally, he has no disagreement with Sunday Igboho.

     

    You said you are close to some victims of herdsmen attacks in your axis and some of them narrated that their abductors took them to the bush and they were hearing people talking,  but people of the community are the owners of the land, can’t the obas do something against all trespassers?

     

    My brother, do you know one thing, do not let us deceive ourselves. What the indigenous individuals who have run this nation in succession after the exit of British colonialists, what they have done is to pursue extreme radical agenda against the traditional royalty in this country. They’ve emasculated our traditional institutions.

     

    From the revelations of victims, they said these bandits have links with some people in the town who act as spies?

     

    That may not be completely false. There must be people who tell them that their targets have big pockets.

     

    Can’t the community investigate  and take the necessary action?

     

    Community do investigate but we don’t have the power to arrest. So, what do we do? We provided reasonable intelligence to the police or the NSCDC command and again you are at their mercy.  Let me give you this narrative, it will interest you, the late Alayede of Ayede-Ogbese, Oba Isaac Oluyele decided to install someone as the Seriki Hausawa. While that ceremony was on, Chief Olu Falae, a prominent Nigerian politician was in attendance to honour that occasion. A loser in the contest, one individual called Mustapha who happened to be a so- called organizer and youth leader in the Hausa community for the ruling APC, decided to bring almajiris. They invaded the palace ground where the ceremony was going on. They started pulling down canopies, throwing chairs. So, in the wisdom of Alayede-in-Council, a decision was reached that, that kind of impunity could not be allowed.

     

    Going back to the issues of the freed victims, I will cite the example  for example, Olatubosun Johnson, the son of Aro of Uso. His father is the third in royal hierarchy of Uso land. When he was kidnapped, they took him for two days just because he was blindfolded, they were taking him around the same locality, beating and torturing him. When eventually they released the hood on his face, he was able to recognised one community in the locality. That’s was how, he knew he was around, Ayede-Ogbese.

     

    Look at the case of Boniface, an employee of Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Delta State who was kidnapped on Sunday and released on Thursday. He was taken around the same spot Olatubosun Johnson was kidnapped and he was released around Bolohunduro and Eleyowo. What are they doing all this kind of stupid stuff for.

     

    What do you think can be done about this issue?

     

    Somebody must be held accountable for the broken chain; the link that is broken in the hierarchy of command, whether in the military or the police. Whoever is weakening that strong link that must be effective in terms of law enforcement,  whoever that is sending that wrong signal that these people enjoy the protection of the Presidency or in the police command;  that person must be identified.

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

     

  • Sharia council urges Governors to create ranches before banning open grazing

     

    The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria on Thursday urged the South-West governors to consider the creation of ranches before banning open grazing.

     

    The group also said asking Fulani herdsmen to stop grazing their animal without providing alternative in ranches would be disastrous.

     

    Addressing newsmen in Osogbo, the Vice President of the group, Sheikh Abdur’rasheed Hadiyatullahi, also said profiling all Fulani as criminals would be unfair to the decent ones among the tribe.

     

    He said, “If you ban open grazing and you don’t create ranch, it is going to be disastrous. You can say animals should not be moving around and destroying crops, but give then ranches.

     

    “Let them settle down and do their business. Ban open grazing and provide ranches. Akeredolu has not told Fulani herdsmen to leave. He only asked them to vacate forest reserve. But let the governors create ranch for the herders.”

     

    On eviction of some Fulani herders from Igangan, Oyo state, Hadiyatullahi said, “To a find way out of these herdsmen, host community conflicts, we call for dialogue and wider consultation. The Igangan incident must be condemned by all lovers of peace. But at the same time, we cannot close our eyes to the pain and suffering of farmers and indigenes of the area who criminals see as soft targets for kidnapping, armed robbery.”

     

    ‘Cattle rearing’s private business’

    Meanwhile, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Mr Akin Omole, said on Thursday that those in the business of cattle rearing in the state were at liberty to create their cattle ranches.

     

    Omole, who said cattle rearing was the private business of individuals, said, “If government wants to support farming, be it crop production or those in the field of animal production, the government will determine the way and manner it wants to go about it.

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Farmers in Ondo state cries out over alleged invasion of their farms by some herdsmen

     

     

    Some farmers in Obasooto community in the Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State on Thursday cried out over the alleged invasion of their farms by some herdsmen.

     

    The incident happened three days after the national leadership of  Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria  agreed to the terms of the Ondo State Government to stop night grazing,   open grazing ,as well as movement of cattle within cities and highways in the state.

     

     

    The affected farmers said they arrived at their farms and saw the havoc wreaked on their farms by the herders during the night.

     

    They lamented that millions of naira invested on the farms had gone in one night due to the attack of the herdsmen.

     

    One of the farmers, Mr Friday Ayaghi, alleged that his cassava plantation were eaten up and destroyed by the cows of the herders.

     

    Ayaghi lamented that feeding his family would become a challenge following the destruction of the farm. He said he planned to use the proceeds of the destroyed cassava to pay his children’s school fees.

     

     

    Another victim, Pa Olatuja Idowu, said the herders allegedly destroyed his cassava, pineapples and cocoyam plantations which belonged to him and his wife.

     

    The physically challenged octogenarian said, “The herdsmen first attacked my wife’s farm about 10 days ago and came back again to destroy my own farm and the rest of my wife’s farm.”

     

    Another farmer in the village, Mrs Sarah Akingbesote, lamented that over 600 heaps of cocoyam were eaten up by the cows which were led into her farm by the herdsmen.

     

     

     

     

    In a reaction,  the Commander of Amotekun in the state, Adetunji Adeleye, who confirmed the incident said operatives of the corps had been deployed in the affected farms to ascertain the level of the destruction as well as quantify the damage done.

     

    Adeleye also stated that the state chairman of MACBAN had been invited towards identifying and arresting the herders that perpetrated the act.

     

    The state chairman of MACBAN Alhaji Garba Bello, said those herders that destroyed the farms would pay for whatever they destroyed.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com