Deborah Akinyosoye
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has declared that the incessant attacks and killings in Plateau would continue due to the injustice herders face in the state.
Its National Secretary, Bello Gotomo, who made the assertion after the association’s National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, also stated that climate-induced migration, proliferation of weapons, weak law enforcement and injustice were contributing to the persistent violence in the state.
Gotomo said instances where Fulani herdsmen are attacked, killed, and their cows rustled by natives, and nothing is done by security agencies, automatically force the herders to seek justice in their own way, by attacking the communities where they were wronged.
He added that the Fulani are peace-loving people, who have been living with Plateau natives in peace and harmony for years before criminals began stealing their cows and killing them.
According to him, whenever the criminals are arrested, nothing is done to them, which in turn triggers reprisals.
Gotomo condemned the killings that have been going on in different parts of the state and appealed to all parties to embrace dialogue and forge a mutual ground to ensure lasting peace.
He also called on the federal and state governments to ensure justice for wronged Fulani people if there is a desire to end the violence.
BUT President of Berom Youths Moulder-Association (BYM), Dalylop Solomon Nwantiri, has disclosed that over 20,000 hectares of land were destroyed by Fulani militia on Wednesday night in Jol District of Riyom Local Council of Plateau State.
Addressing journalists yesterday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Jos, he claimed that the criminal elements, after destroying the farmland, were dismissed without resistance from the surrounding troops.
Consequently, Nwantiri called on the international community to intervene in the insecurity besetting the North Central and North-East regions.
This, according to him, is because “Plateau State also belongs to Nigeria. Equity deserves that.”
He alleged that many Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps in the state have not been given adequate attention.
The BYM chieftain added: “Therefore, we call on the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof.Nentawe Yilwatda and other well-meaning agencies to swing into action and do the same, just as they have been doing in other places. They deserve such intervention. Remember, they are human beings.”