Sultan to FG: Probe sources of weapons used by herdsmen

. Says real herdsmen don’t carry arms, perpetrate heinous killings

.Security agencies seems compromised- CNPP scribe

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has challenged the Federal Government to probe the sources of weapons used by herdsmen accused of attacking communities and killing innocent persons across the country.

Abubakar, who gave the advice in his Eid-el Fitr message on Sunday in Sokoto, however disagreed that those involved in the killings and destruction communities are herdsmen, but said they are common criminals masquerading as herdsmen and should be treated as such.

This is even the former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, accused the Federal Government of refusing to do anything to arrest the herdsmen menace and reduce their carnage across the country.

“Real herdsmen do not carry guns; they only move with their cows and sticks. There could be bad eggs among the Fulani, but those carrying arms and perpetrating heinous killings are not herdsmen.

“Those carrying arms are criminals and should be treated as such,” Abubakar said.

While advising government to do more in addressing the problem, the Sultan said, “Government should probe the sources of these weapons and take appropriate action so as to minimise these attacks.”

Abubakar commended government’s measures aimed at combating insurgency in the North-East, and cautioned against complacency as the problem was not over.

The Sultan urged Nigerians to complement the efforts of the security agencies toward securing the country, pointing out that security was a collective responsibility.

Speaking on the herdsmen’s menace in a telephone chat, former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, agreed with the Sultan that the alleged killer herdsmen cannot be genuine herdsmen, but criminal with ulterior motive out to achieve a predestined purpose.

He however argued that if indeed the government is serious about curtailing the excesses of the herdsmen, they know what to do to achieve such.

“Obviously, from the way they are acting, they can’t be herdsmen, herding cattle is just a camouflage. The government is in charge of security, they should know what to do. I don’t think the government’s inaction is because of a lack of advice that is leading to that.

“I tell you that carrying cattle around is just a cover to go and commit the kind of crimes they are committing, but the government should be able to know what to do about it. They have the power to challenge what is going on,” Ukiwe said.

Also speaking, Secretary General of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Chief Willy Ezugwu, said the actions of the herdsmen has left him confused on how to classify them whether as herdsmen or criminals, but said whatever they are should not be the problem, but the government should deal with the situation.

“As far as I am concerned, I don’t know again how to define the meaning of herdsmen, because we can see how they are causing havoc in all corners of the country, scavenging all the farm lands that we have.”

Ezugwu, who is also the Convener and National Coordinator of South East Revival Group (SERG), challenged the government to show capacity in dealing with the menace, adding: “We have been crying calling herdsmen, but they are saying the herdsmen are not theirs, but criminals, but unfortunately the Nigerian security agencies have not been able to apprehend anyone of them.

“On daily basis we see the dastardly act all over the place, so for anybody to say the people who are doing these things are criminals, yet the security agents have been unable to do anything about them and if you see the kind of ammunitions that they are using like AK 47 riffles and the rest of the weapons, you will find out that this is totally well planned. So I don’t know if the security agencies are totally compromised because they are Fulani herdsmen or whatever, because it seems everybody is scared about doing anything, because no one wants to say the truth.

“I was watching on television recently a man from Edo State who just came back from America, how they ravaged his farm. Who did it? The same herdsmen; they are all over the country today, mostly in the Middle belt, South East and South South.

“Who are the heads of the security agencies, are they not their people, so, I don’t know if they are herdsmen or not, they are all criminals. You can see they are boasting, that they should not pass the law on grazing. These so-called herdsmen are lively human beings that we see on daily basis, but unfortunately the government has refused to do anything about it.

“So, to me we are in a mess in this country and we are running a Banana republic as a government. The government knows what to do if they want to do something. These people are not spirits, it is very unfortunate,” he said.

It would be recalled that Fulani herdsmen have been on rampage in most communities in Southern Nigeria, destroying farm lands and in some cases killing people, with the latest happening in Edo State.

Visiting Ewu in Esan-Central Local Government Area of the state after the herdsmen’s attack recently, the Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, vowed to dislodge killer herdsmen from the state.

He said this while visiting families of two women raped and murdered by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The deceased are Mrs. Christiana Ariu of Eko-Ujeme quarters and Mrs. Matina Emoyon of Uzogolo quarters, both in Ewu.

Obaseki observed that the ravaging activities of Fulani herdsmen had become a threat to national security.

The governor said that the state was currently working out modalities to curtail the activities of criminals who disguise as herdsmen in the state.

“We are coming up with certain measures to prevent what has just happened from happening again in the future.

“We will be relying on every community to give us information on time, so that we can curb such situations before it happens again.

“If we had known that people have been in the bush with their cattle for a few weeks, we would have dislodged them from there.

“If it is to feed their cattle, then we will come up with methods where anybody who brings cattle can take them to a particular place, where everyone knows that they are there and the cattle cannot roam around”, the governor said.