The Association of Fulani Chiefs and the
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria have said a former
Secretary of the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, was not
kidnapped by genuine Fulani herdsmen.
MACBAN, therefore, faulted the pan-Yoruba
group, Afenifere, for calling for the expulsion of Fulani herdsmen from
the South-West.
The Chairman of MACBAN, Ondo State chapter, Bello Garba, said this during a press conference in Lagos.
Garba admitted that Fulani herdsmen
usually encroached on farms but argued that no Fulani herdsman would
abandon his cattle and go about abducting people.
He
said, “We’ve been relating with security agencies and we have never had
any issue with residents before. The disagreement with farmers has been
ongoing for sometime but we have mediated and settled it on several
occasions.
“Most of the Fulani people that came into
Ondo came in as cattle breeders and you don’t expect them to just leave
their animals and be kidnapping. We have been residing in Ondo State
for more than 100 years and no one has ever accused us of any heinous
crime in Ondo State or caught us with weapons.
“As an Ondo resident, I condemn this act.
Clearly, this is impersonation. We live with our families in Ondo. How
can we engage in such an act? We are pleading with law enforcement
agents to do more investigation and expose the real perpetrators.”
Also speaking, the Sarkin Fulani of
Lagos, Alhaji Mohammed Bambado, said it will not be in the interest of
the Yoruba or Nigerians to denigrate cattle breeders at a time Nigeria
was trying to diversify its economy and make agriculture more
attractive.
Bambado reminded the Afenifere that
expelling Fulani indigenes from the South-West was in contravention of
the African Union charter.
He said, “Need we remind our brothers
(Afenifere) of the African Union and ECOWAS charters that give people
and animals, particularly, livestock free movement within and across
international borders of West African states. Such calls and actions are
in direct breach of a number of international treaties and obligations
regarding the free movement of persons and animals.
“Banning the movement of cattle from one
part of Nigeria to another also violates the constitution of Nigeria on
the freedom of movement of people and livestock. It also amounts to
ethnic profiling of the nomadic Fulani.”
He, however, called on the Afenifere to
join hands with the Fulani to find a lasting solution to the
encroachment of herdsmen on farmlands.
The Sarkin Fulani, Abeokuta, Alhaji
Mohammed Kabir, said the government needs to create grazing reserves for
herdsmen so that they would stop encroaching on farmlands.
He said if Nigeria failed to address the
issue squarely, the country could start relying on other countries for
cattle supply and this would further weaken the economy.
Kabir, who is also the Secretary,
Association of Fulani Chiefs in the South-West, said, “We have appealed
to the Federal Government and state governments in the South-West to
help create grazing reserves.
“It is done in many advanced countries.
When these things don’t exist, the herdsmen have to encroach for
survival. Even before oil, we were doing this.
“God forbids that we will be importing
all our cattle from overseas like our cars. This cattle rearing creates
jobs for thousands if not millions of people. There is ranching in
advanced countries but we can’t be ranchers because we can’t afford it.”
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