No one can stop us from grazing in the south — Fulani herdsmen

 

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 describing such restriction as unconstitutional.

The nomads, who spoke to Enewz 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 including the most recent Enugu incident, where several lives were los.

But the herdsmen, in separate interviews with our correspondents, notes that it is 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, Nuru Abdullahi, said nobody could deprive Fulani herdsmen of their constitutional right of free movement.

Also, the Chairman, MCBAN, North-West Zone, Ardo Ahmadu Suleiman, warned against criminalizing all Fulani herdsmen over the attacks.

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, 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.