Abuja, Lagos, Mathew Dadiya, Segun Adio Monday, 26 Oct 2015

The Fulani socio-cultural association, Miyetti Allah, has discarded call by the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere that all herdsmen residing in the South Western part of the country must be taken census of before they could be allowed to live in the zone.

Miyetti Allah described the two week ultimatum given by the Yoruba group and the call to register them as a bluff-off, noting that it is not enforceable because it violates the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

But reacting, Afenifere described the decision of the Miyetti Allah as unconscionable and warned the group not to test the resolve of the Yoruba.

Speaking to Daily Times on Sunday, spokesman of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said facts on the ground show that the Yoruba are never a conquered people and will resist all attempts to subject them to humiliation. He asked the Miyetti Allah to show which part of the constitution that empowers Fulani herdsmen to vandalise farms, rape women, maim farmers as well as engage in other acts of criminality on the pretext seeking grazing lands for their animals. “If they are not ashamed of the actions of their herdsmen, then should be ready to face the consequences of their actions.

The Fulani herdsmen should not take the good nature of their hosts in Yorubaland as weakness. The Yoruba will take every necessary step to protect its people and region from those who are bent on making us look like a conquered people. ’’He said the Yoruba are united in their stand taken in Ibadan recently wherein leaders of the Fulani were advised to check the excesses of their herdsmen, adding that the order to have Fulani herdsmen in the South West registered subsists.

The Miyetti Allah made their position known at the weekend during its National Executive meeting held at its headquarters in Tudun Wada, Nasarawa State where its leaders from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT gathered to deliberate on the challenges confronting it. National President of the group, Alhaji Bello Abdullahi Bodejo and the National Secretary, Engineer Saleh Alhassan, said that the recent kidnapping of Chief Olu Falae by whoever, was totally condemnable but the politicisation and isolation of the pastoralists with the intent that they should either be massacred like what happened in Rwanda should not be tolerated.

According to the association, following the kidnap of the elder statesman recently by some criminals and the unguarded utterances against the entire Fulani race by Femi Fani-Kayode in the various media as well as the recent publication by the Nigerian Police that they have arrested some criminals who are not even Fulani herdsmen, necessitated the call for the meeting.

“Criminals are found in every ethnic group and anybody attempting to target an entire ethnic group because few miscreants among them are alleged to have perpetrated a crime, we see that as a deliberate attempt to continue with the profiling of pastoralists over the years just to cast our people in bad light because people felt; since they don’t depend on government and they are politically independent why, so should they even operate in Nigeria as if they are not Nigerians.‘’This issue of classifying herdsmen caught in any alleged crime as Fulani is a deliberate attempt to portray the Fulani ethnic group as bad people. Don’t those arrested have identity? There have been series of arm robbery attacks and kidnapping in the every part of the country especially in Lagos, so why are the people arrested by the police not linked to their ethnic group or classified based on their tribes? Miyetti Allah queried.

They maintained that “As an organisation, we don’t feel that our image is at stake but what we feel is that our security is at stake and we are calling on government to do everything possible to ensure our safety: the safety of our properties, our lives and freedom of movement as enshrined in the constitution. We don’t want a situation whereby we have to resort to safe-help because if we are affected with annihilation either by ethic count or premeditated propaganda by politicians that are either disenchanted with the current development, if they think they can pick on our people to vent their political frustration, they are making mistake.

“When Afenifere was saying they will give ultimatum to herdsmen two weeks to leave, we laugh because it is not enforceable; one, it violates the constitution of the country and secondly, the people you want to pick on would not just sit to allow you to trample on them just like a termites. So we call off their bluff. If we say we will take census of mechanics in the northern Nigeria, to register every Yoruba man, there would be war in the country,” the leaders added.

They further disclosed that the Fulani herdsmen contribute significantly to the economic activities of the country with about 12.5 GDP.All the animal protein consumed in this country, we the Fulani produced it. What has the government given us, which incentive are they giving to our people? All the abattoirs, restaurants, hotels and other food industries rely on us because we supply all the beef. Is it because majority of our people are rural dwellers that they don’t enjoy coverage from the media or get support from the government?“I don’t see any reason why people alleged that some Fulani youth kidnapped a personality then you now condemned the whole ethnic group. We see it as a deliberate and calculated political attempt to continue with the agenda of seeingthat the pastoralists do not operatefreely in this country and the mistake they are making because they think the background of current President of the country is a pastoralist, if they take on the pastoralists they will score politicalpoint, it is a mistake. If you take on the pastoralists, they will defend themselves not minding who the President is.”According to the Miyatti Allah, the pastoralists don’t believe that because Buhari happens to be one of them so they can now indulge inany kind of criminality, no! Saying that, if you find out most of the people involved in the cases of kidnapping, they are just part of a gang. The ring leaders are not herdsmen but because it’s a criminal enterprise, you now find a convenience for people that want to indulge in crime to go into it.‘’It’s always hasty for people to come out condemning an ethnic group without waiting for security report’’, the group said.Speaking further, they said: “We take exception to the unguarded, unwarranted and hate speech of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode to the effect that the kidnap of the elder statesman was perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen when at the time of such malicious publication, the police were trying their best to embark on discrete investigation with the view to bringing the culprits to book. Fani-Kayode went to into the air and called our entire Fulani race as Tse-tse fly, locust, leeches and has called for the ban of herdsmen from southern Nigeria,it is very unfortunate.”The Miyetti Allah called on the former minister to publicly withdraw his hate speech and wrongful criminal allegation against the entire race and in particular the Fulani herdsmen withimmediate effect to avoid legal action.Meanwhile, Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Sunday, called on President Buhari “to address the bloody clashes which occur regularly between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the various parts of the country.Falana also threatened to drag President Buhari-led administration to court it does not stop the unwarranted civil disturbances by Fulani herdsmen.He said: “Through the negligence of the State, the country has continued to witness the reckless killing of innocent farmers and the destruction of farmlands. Farmers, like other citizens, are entitled to the protection of the right to life and property.”To halt the alleged wanton killings by Fulani herdsmen, Falana said: “the primitive movement of thousands of heads of cattle from the north to the south should be stopped without any further delay.

well composed. nice info op

There will be no war, my brother.

There is no stockpile of weapons in the Southwest. You can't fight herdsmen with causes (ekpe) and babalawos.

The tse-tse fly they were being referred to as is still hurting them.

Yet the Mayetti Fulani group has never come out openly to condemn the activities of their brothers ravaging the middlebeltern part of the country.
Why do i have this feelings that Fulanis value their cows more than human life.
.....are they insinuating that the self acclaimed 'sophisticated' tribe are all motor mechanics,i cant help laughing.

To all my Hausa friends, warn ur ppl or we send u packing..... Dazzol

fulani herdsmen n boko haram are one.

'Shut up' kwankwaso tells yoruba elders

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/people-making-secessionist-threat-should-shut-up-says-kwankwaso/

merry02:
To all my Hausa friends, warn ur ppl or we send u packing..... Dazzol

No one Nigeria again?

Master-slave relationship gone sour

OZAOEKPE:
Master-slave relationship gone sour

When will your mom return from Italy since immigration now raids a.shewo house in Italy daily. You better beg her to come back before they catch the old w.hore.

MrMbaM:


When will your mom return from Italy since immigration now raids a.shewo house in Italy daily. You better beg her to come back before they catch the old w.hore.

^^ Your point being?

OZAOEKPE:
Master-slave relationship gone sour

Epic! We know who'd win in the end.

Never try to outshine the master. #letter ot my unborn

imhotep:

^^ Your point being?

Who is this?

Which war path, Afenifere fit stand Fulani people, if Fulani cough Afenifere will run away, for Nigeria na one tribe fit challenge fulani

Rayhut:
Which war path, Afenifere fit stand Fulani people, if Fulani cough Afenifere will run away, for Nigeria na one tribe fit challenge fulani

You should be worried about your women being raped freely by Fulani while they kill your Eze without any noise. BUahahahahah. 5th class citizen of Nigeria.

Fulani Herdsmen Raping, Killing Our People – Enugu Women

https://www.nairaland.com/2678378/fulani-herdsmen-raping-killing-people

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