Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State, on Friday, doubled down on his stance on arms-bearing by Fulani herdsmen.
The governor insisted that the Fulani herdsmen need protection because they are demonised and dehumanised when they roam into foreign lands with their cattles and also suffer attacks from cattle rustlers who steal from them.
Speaking on a Channels TV programme, Governor Mohammed said, “The Fulani man is so exposed, dehumanised, demonised in fact, because he is being seen as a bandit and so, anywhere he goes, he is being pursued. Not only in the southwest or the southeast, even in the north because he is in the cattle route.
Mr. Mohammed also alleged that herdsmen were being fined heavily whenever their cows stray into people’s farms, saying such encroachment was inevitable because cattle routes “have been taken away.”
“Sometimes, they are fined beyond your imagination. If one cow strays into the farm because the cattle route has been taken away illegally without the authority giving permission, he will be fined seriously, mercilessly,” he said.
Arguing further, the governor asserted that the pastoralists have been left with no choice than to arm themselves with assault weapons.
“We have so many vigilante groups in Nigeria even at the level of government…sub regional groups, subnationals are establishing vigilante groups to make sure that their communities are protected.
“Why wouldn’t the Fulani man protect himself? And if he carries a gun in order to protect himself, it may not be a legal carriage, it may be legal. He may also register and carry it to protect himself,” Mr. Mohammed queried.
The Bauchi governor’s retort comes, following backlashes from his earlier take on the issue. He had attacked fellow governors, particularly Benue and Ondo governors, for moving to curb excesses of Fulani herdsmen in their domain.
“Southern governors are wrong,” Mr. Mohammed chimed at a journalists’ event in Bauchi.
”The Fulani man is practicing the tradition of trans-human, pastoralism, he has been exposed to the battery of the forests, the animals, and now, the cattle rustlers, who carry guns, kill him and take away his commonwealth – that is his cows – he had no option than to carry Ak-47 because the society and the government are not protecting him.”
“It is not his fault, it is the fault of the government and the people; you don’t criminalise all of them because in every tribe there are criminals. You should be very sensitive. We have to be careful,” Governor Mohammed said.
However, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and Samuel Ortom have since condemned his statement, accusing him of betraying his oath of office to support illegalities due to ethnic affiliation.
Watch your utterances, Abdulsalami warns governor
Meanwhile, former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar has warned state governors to guide against making utterances capable of inciting communal clashes in the country.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar
Abdulsalami, who is the Chairman of the National Peace Committee, spoke on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show.'
He regretted that Nigerians have not learnt form past mistakes of inter-tribal wars. He, therefore, called on members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum governors to take full responsibility of securing lives and properties as well as embrace dialogue.
The former head of state said, “The governors have found themselves in a difficult situation. It is their responsibility to guard their states regardless of who and who is in their states. Ethnic disharmony is rearing itself all over the place. You could see where the herders are being chased from some of parts of the Southern states and their cattle are being killed. Certainly, this heightened tension in the country.
“Some people are also migrating from one part of the country back to their states where they feel safer. God forbid this is taking us back to the 1960 where we had a problem that resulted in the civil war. That is why myself and the peace committee are calling for caution so that we do not go back to that road.”
Asked what the governors must do to quell the tension in the country at the moment, Abdulsalami said, “They must make sure there is law and order in their states and they should watch their utterances because what they say, people will take it as an order.
“They as governors should be aware of what they say; they should not say anything that will be misread that they are fighting people who are not of their state origin.
“Having said that, there must be dialogue between the people who they feel are committing crimes in their areas. Certainly, if some people commit crimes, they should be arrested and prosecuted. It is their responsibility to save lives and properties of all Nigerians living in their states.”
Some governors in the country including Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed; and his Ondo State counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, have disagreed lately over the use of AK-47 rifle by herdsmen. While Mohammed said the herders bear arms to protect their cattle from being rustled by bandits, Akeredolu disagreed, saying the statement of the Bauchi governor could usher Nigerians “into the next level on the path to anarchy.”