IPOB: Calls mount for Buhari administration to label armed Fulani herdsmen terrorist group

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] section of leaders in Nigeria has declared that armed FULANI herdsmen are the new face of terrorism in Nigeria.

Having graduated from carrying bows and arrows, their deadly arsenal now boasts sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 assault rifle which they deploy against host communities across the country.

National Leader (South-south) of Action Democratic Party (ADP), Senator Roland Owie, faulted the decision by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to declare the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist group, saying it smacks of double standard.

“Now that IPOB has been declared ‘Terrorist group’, President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria should immediately declare Fulani herdsmen, ‘Terrorist group, he said.

Owie, in a statement Saturday said that the Buhari administration was not walking the way of justice and equity; otherwise, it should immediately declare Fulani herdsmen, who have continued to kill and maim innocent Nigerians in the north central and southern parts of Nigeria, as a terrorist group.

According to him, “I urge President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to walk the way of justice and equity in handling the affairs of Nigeria and stop pretending that all is well.

“The gravest mistake of non-equitable administrations all over the world is the denial of wrongdoings on their part. Unfortunately for such administrations, they forget that God cannot be mocked.”

Fulani herdsmen must be disarmed. No group should be illegally granted an exclusive right to bear arms, said Lanre Solanke, a security expert in Lagos in a chat with Per Second News on Sunday.

The excesses of the herdsmen in March 2016 are still fresh in Agatu LGA in Benue State, a carnage that reportedly left over 400 people dead, and their communities confiscated. An Australian institute, The Global Terrorism Index, in 2016 labelled Fulani herdsmen as the fourth deadliest terror organisation in the world after Boko Haram, the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and al-Shabab.

The GTI in a report said the Fulani herdsmen has killed over 3,000 people in Nigeria between 2013-2016.

’The Arewa Youths that declared Ibos persona non-grata from the north from October 1st and dared the police to arrest the leadership without any iota of reaction from the federal government is ridiculously demeaning to our collective sense of perceived geopolitical balance, said Imo State governorship aspirant, Robert Okpara.

“This war of attrition against the Southeast is ridiculously contemptuous. The actions of the Arewa Youths supported by the northern governors and their co-travelers is great threat to the unity of the country. Except that was the hand of Isaw and voice of Jacob? The organization and the Herdsmen should be tagged terrorist organizations.