Ohaneze, Afenifere kick against provocative Fulani herders’ proposal

BY OUR REPORTER

The Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation Ohaneze Ndigbo and the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group Afenifere have risen in unity to condemn the vexed proposition of establishing Fulani vigilante groups in the South East region, as being proposed by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).

The Fulani cattle herders had called for the establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante body in the South-East to complement those in their host communities and other constituted security apparatus in the zone, to combat insecurity.

MACBAN’s proposal was made Thursday by its chairman, Alhaji Muhammadu Kirowa, represented by the association’s national secretary, Alhaji Baba Usman Ngelzerma, at the South-East Security Summit organised by the South-East Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (SECCIMA) in collaboration with South-East Governors Forum (SEGF) in Enugu.

“Ohanaeze vehemently opposes any attempt by Miyetti Allah to establish any form of vigilante group in Igboland. These are people who have ravaged our farms, raped our women and slaughtered their husbands. As at today, they technically enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution. They freely display AK-47 rifles not permitted to be used by civilians. Extending this measure to them will turn them into an army of occupation and invite unavoidable confrontations with our youths. We will resist such a policy with every might available to us,” Nnia Nwodo, president-general Ohaneze Ndigbo, said in a statement.

Ohaneze’s position was stoutly supported by Afenifere, which further described MACBAN’s proposal as provocative and insulting.

Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said in a statement: “It is a provocative agenda which shows that there is a clear agenda to provoke war. The South East has come under the siege of marauding herdsmen with authorities in the land shying away from enforcing law and order. The height of it all is now this insulting call by Miyetti Allah. They should be careful how they poke their wicked fingers into the eyes of the people. The gentility of a lion is never a sign of cowardice.”

In his remarks at the event, chairman of South-East Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, stated that the South East region would not engage in policy of exclusion to limit any farmer or herder, but stressed that rules of engagement should be observed in every relationship.

Umahi, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, quibbled: “We will continue to accommodate the Miyetti Allah, but our plea to them is that as we are magnanimous to allow settlers, every community has a custom that needs not to be violated. It is the violation that breeds problem. “I believe that at the end, resolutions will generate further national dialogue, promote agenda-setting and a solution to the lingering national insecurity. All we need is the good idea of one or two men to find direction and I believe this summit will do that.”