We Totally Condemn The Massacre Of Nigerians In Numan By Fulani Militias – The Middle Belt Union

Press Release

The Middle Belt Union totally condemn the massacre of Nigerians in Numan by Fulani militias. We hold the government of President Muhammadu Buhari responsible for this crime against humanity. There were plans to massacre by Fulani herdsmen in reprisal attack over attack on Fulani village by an alleged Bachama militia, but the government of Adamawa State and the federal government did nothing about it. We have reasons to believe that the government allowed this to happen deliberately as everyone saw it coming.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have not only protected both local and foreign Fulani herdsmen/militias and defended them, but kept making excuses on their behalf, trying to paint these incessant terrorist attacks as communal clashes instead of terrorist attacks, when local law abiding peaceful farmers are being painted as the aggressor thereby encouraging the Fulani militias who know they can get away with any crime anywhere in Nigeria.

We thank the Sultan of Sokoto for his statement on the barbaric incident in Adamawa. The Sultan sternly told the government to protect the people as it is their duties and responsibilities to do so and to arrest perpetrators.

The Buhari administration has completely failed in handling the Fulani herdsmen problem and kept aggravating it by their inactions and utterances. 

We, the people of the Middle Belt, want to show our disaffection by saying that if the government refuses to take immediate action and arrest the terrorists, we would mobilize our people against the ruling government in the coming election because it will be that the government does care about us.

By George Onmonya Daniel,
PRO,

The Middle Belt Union

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RELATED POST

Stop These Savage Killings In Adamawa!

Grazing Reserves And Southern Kaduna Massacre

By Gbemiga Olakunle

We are watching with breathtaking amazement the level of destruction of lives and property reportedly going on in Southern Kaduna. The conflict in the area has claimed about 808 lives, while about 57 persons suffered life threatening injuries in the hands of suspected Fulani herdsmen. The body language of The Presidency on this situation is troubling. President Muhammadu Buhari has not uttered any word of condemnation on the reported mass killing that can be likened to genocide.

However, the Sultan of Sokoto has reportedly frowned at the wanton destruction of lives and property in the area. The respected traditional ruler and head of the Muslim community in Nigeria, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, has even advised President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Nasir El-Rufai to put an end to the crisis in the area. In his condemnation of the killings, the Sultan declared that fundamental Islamic law forbids the unlawful destruction of lives and property, except for a just cause. While defending his principal, the presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, was also quoted as saying that there is no need for the President to speak on the killings since the Kaduna State Governor, El-Rufai, is on top of the matter as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the State.

Rev. Father Paul Jatau has, however, accused the governor of being complacent in his handling of the contentious matter. In fact, the Rev. Father went ahead to allege that it was the refusal of the Southern Kaduna residents to turn their lands into grazing reserves for the Fulani herdsmen that formed the bedrock of the crisis. About 808 human lives are reportedly lost in a particular section of a Federating Unit within the Federal Republic of Nigeria and yet the Presidency has not deemed it fit to utter a single word or condemnation whether it means it or not!

We are talking of human lives here and not those of chickens. Even if such lives belong to other animals, what does it cost the authorities concerned to condemn  such unwarranted destruction in unmistaken terms before going ahead to investigate the matter with a view to getting to its root and stopping it? Since the Sultan of Sokoto and the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has strongly condemned the destruction and advised both the President and the Governor of the affected State on what to do, there is no need to further over-flog the matter.

Are The Fulani Herdsmen Above The Law?

By Julius Oweh

A lot of things have been said and written about the menace of the Fula­ni herdsmen sowing destruction and death throughout the length and breadth of the country under the bizarre veneer of cattle rear­ing. They are all over the country destroying the crops and farms of people yet the government is giv­ing the unfortunate impression that these criminals are above the law. Growing up in the village, my image of the average Fulani herds­man was that of the magical stick and the myth then was that should he touch you with the stick, he could transform you to a cow. 

They were peace-loving and eas­ily mingled with the natives and havoc was not in their DNA. But today, the image has changed into a criminal carrying dangerous weapon like AK47 whereas other Nigerians with double barrel gun are chased by the police and oth­er security agents for not getting the license to bear arms. The ques­tion that staggers the imagination is who is issuing license to those Fulani herdsmen that are bearing sophisticated weapons and using same to attack and even kill their hosts.

No week passes without one form of attack by these Fula­ni herdsmen in the media. Re­cently, a legislator in Delta State bemoaned the attack of Fulani herdsmen that led to the death of two people in Abraka. There was also the case of the attack in Enu­gu that led to the death of some women and when the men pro­tested, they were arrested by sol­diers and locked up and they had to bail themselves for demon­strating against an evil ravaging the land. In Benue state, it had to take the intervention of a foreign body for the state government to acknowledge the menace of the Fulani herdsmen that resulted in the death of three hundred peo­ple. For how long will this men­ace continue to ravage the land and the federal government and some state governments pretend that all is well?

That is why the cries of the Na­tional Christian Elders Forum should be taken seriously by the federal government – the execu­tive arm and the legislative arm. The chairman of the forum, Mr Solomon Asemota expressed dis­pleasure over the federal govern­ment inability to stem the on-go­ing carnage and destruction by Fulani herdsmen. He lamented thus on this security challenge: `It is shocking that till today, there had been no prosecution of any of these marauders. For years, the Fulani herdsmen have been murdering innocent Nige­rians with impunity. It is sad to note that Boko Haram which is presently regarded as the world number one most dangerous ter­ror organization and the Fulani herdsmen considered the fourth are both operating in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the response of gov­ernment to the menace of these individuals has to date, been tepid and indifferent. Can a southerner go to the core north and attack a prominent figure in the stature of Chief Olu Falae? The impression the federal government is giving by its lukewarm responses is that there are two classes of people in the country – the citizens and the subjects. The citizen can commit a crime and go scoff free and he is above the law. The subject who is the victim of the citizen`s lawless­ness can be clamped into deten­tion for protesting the brigandry of the citizen as demonstrated in the Enugu example. This is clear­ly a recipe for chaos and anarchy.