13022021 - We'll retaliate - Fulani Association Chair

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12—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 13, 2021 Criminal herdsmen have killed 4,000 farmers in S\West in 6 years —Okikiola, Farmers Association President-General Godfathers buy arms, ammunition for them •For money, security agents connive with them •Amotekun alone can’t flush out criminal herdsmen •We’ve cursed Yoruba leaders colluding with them By Dapo Akinrefon Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola is the President-General of Agbekoya Farmers Association. In this interview, he opines that marauding herdsmen perpetuating crime in the South-West have godfathers, who purchase arms and ammunition for them. He also states that his group will wade off every expansionist tendency of the killer herdsmen. He speaks on other burning issues affecting the South-West. Excerpts: •Chief Kamorudeen Okikiola You recently raised the alarm that criminal herdsmen have begun guerilla warfare in the South-West. What informed your remarks? Some factors, events and incidents informed my remarks especially the spate of kidnappings and killings of farmers and innocent Yoruba sons and daughters by Fulani criminal herdsmen and bandits. Over 4,000 farmers and innocent citizens have been killed in the South-West since the year 2015, without any arrest and prosecution. Kidnapping and killings of people by criminal Fulani herdsmen continue unabated without any positive and responsive steps taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to curb the nefarious activities of the armed criminal Fulani herdsmen. President Buhari and his aides have not spoken concerning all the criminal activities of the armed Fulani herdsmen and bandits until eviction and quit notices, with an ultimatum, were given to Fulani herdsmen by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and the Yoruba human rights activist, Sunday Igboho in Ibarapa area of Oyo State. Another factor that informed my remarks is the influx of Fulani criminal herdsmen and the amount of ammunition and weapons, like AK47, being smuggled by these criminals into the South-West. I am amazed that not much has been done to arrest the godfathers who are financially responsible for the purchase of ammunition and weapons because I am sure that the Fulani criminal herdsmen are not the ones financing the purchase of these weapons. Gradually and subtly, the history of Fulani’s expansionist tendencies towards the South- West is being reenacted and Agbekoya and other Yoruba nation stakeholders are aware of these tendencies. These expansionist tendencies will be seriously rebuffed with everything that it takes if these senseless kidnappings and killings are not stopped. In most of the villages and towns in Yoruba land, our farmers have deserted their farms and people cannot move about freely to conduct their business activities because of the fear of being kidnapped and killed. Criminal Fulani herdsmen now lay ambush on our people on highways in towns, cities and footpaths in villages. These are signs of guerrilla warfare. What do you think is responsible for the influx of criminal herdsmen in the South West? The high level of poverty, children out of school and insincerity of leadership in the Northern part of the country have been responsible for the influx of criminal herdsmen in the South-West. The criminal Fulani herdsmen believe that once they can smuggle themselves to the South-West, they will get a place to stay with their Fulani kinsmen. And once they can get a place to stay, they will start mingling with the people of the community under the pretense that they are herdsmen. They now begin to wander about with other herdsmen with cattle studying the community environment and before the community and the traditional rulers could know what is happening, they would have formed a gang of kidnappers and bandits, committing rapes, kidnapping and killing their victims who cannot afford to pay the ransom they are asking for. Even those who could pay were also killed for one reason or the other. Another reason is that our land borders are very porous and unscrupulous security agents connive with them, once their sponsors offer them money. There is also free and cheaper food for cattle in the South-West because of our climate. The Fulani herdsmen move around the cattle for free green grasses, and in the process, the animals eat and destroy the crops of our farmers. Do you think Amotekun operatives in the states can flush out criminal herdsmen in South West? The Amotekun operatives alone cannot flush out the criminal Fulani herdsmen in the Southwest. The insecurity situation in the South-West, as it is today, calls for a concerted effort from all the security stakeholders like Agbekoya, OPC, the hunters, vigilante group, the Nigeria Civil Defense Corps, and the government security agencies. The management of Amotekun needs to reinforce and intensify the intelligence reporting system of their operations in such a way that on daily basis, information about security situations in all the nooks and crannies of the states are reported for analysis and for prompt actions to be taken. And the six states need to create a kind of Gradually and subtly, the history of Fulani’s expansionist tendencies towards the South-West is being reenacted and Agbekoya and other Yoruba nation stakeholders are aware of these tendencies synergy and networking in their operations to complement each other. Amotekun, as a security outfit, is yet to grapple with the enormous task of securing lives and properties in the states because the organization is faced with inadequate personnel, funding, logistics network, and ineffective intelligence reporting system. Do you support the strategy being adopted by Mr. Sunday Adeyemo also known as Sunday Igboho in his quest to flush out criminal herdsmen from the South West? I support the strategy adopted by Sunday Igboho even though we all need to rally around him to perfect the strategy. He has taken the bull by the horn and has sent the signal to Federal Government that enough is enough and that we, Yoruba, at home and abroad are not ready to condone the criminal activities of the Fulani herdsmen in the Southwest. Sunday Igboho has awakened every son and daughter of Yoruba land especially our traditional rulers who have been trading with the lives and properties of their people and the political class, who are politicizing insecurities in Southwest. I want to use this medium to inform him that the Agbekoya Farmers Society, a just cause. the first farmers’ group in Nigeria since 1938, is solidly behind him and we are already intensifying our efforts and strategies to flush out criminal Fulani herdsmen from the Southwest. Agbekoya security operatives are already in most of the forests day and night and around the land borders in Yoruba land to monitor the activities of criminal Fulani herdsmen. I am also calling on our traditional rulers, politicians and South-West Governors to support Sunday Igboho because he is fighting You recently disclosed that your group has begun a manhunt for the killer herdsmen kingpin, known as Mahmoud Waziri and his men, who terrorise farmers and residents in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State. How did you arrive at this? We, farmers, are the most affected by criminal activities of the armed Fulani herdsmen and marauders and you cannot expect us as a farmers group to fold our arms when our farmers are being killed and our wives and daughters are being raped by criminal Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits. The insecurity situation in the South- West is no more a joke and we are not ready to take it lightly with anybody who is the kingpin of these criminal Fulani herdsmen. The security agencies have failed us and we can no more tolerate the way these criminal Fulani herdsmen kill our farmers and rape our wives and daughters with impunity. The President and his aides are not talking, but they could talk when we gave eviction and quit order to the criminal Fulani herdsmen. Whether anybody likes it or not, we are seriously looking for all the kingpins of the criminal Fulani herdsmen and their men all over South-West and when we get them, we are going to announce to the whole world and then hand them over to security agencies. Do you think some Yoruba leaders are colluding with these criminal herdsmen to perpetuating crimes in the South West? I don’t think some Yoruba leaders are colluding with these criminal herdsmen to perpetrate crimes in the South-West. It is only a bastard and a sick Yoruba leader that will be colluding with criminals to kill his people. Agbekoya is watching and monitoring all our Yoruba leaders. We have placed curses on those traitor Yoruba leaders, their wives, children and they will die mysteriously. But I also want to add that some Yoruba leaders can collude with these criminal Fulani herdsmen, after all, we have seen some traditional rulers supporting and protecting these criminals because of money, even some politicians have refused to talk because of their political ambitions. Agbekoya is seriously warning you all because the day of judgement is very near. Your association has vowed to launch a fullscale war against Fulani armed herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits if they are not nipped in the bud. How do you intend to go about this? Yes, my group has vowed to launch a fullscale war against armed Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits if they are not nipped in the bud. We are keeping our strategy to ourselves, but you will be surprised that one day, the criminal Fulani herdsmen will just fizzle out like smoke from Southwest. I am using this medium to call on President Muhammad Buhari, the Northern Governors, political leaders, traditional rulers from the North to take urgent and bold steps to stop the nefarious activities of these criminal Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers and bandits in the interest of all and sundry.
SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 13, 2021—13 Nomadic Education to educate, take Fulani herdsmen off forests has been neglected —Faggo By Bashir Bello - KANO Alhaji Yunusa M. Gidado Faggo is the National Financial Secretary, Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, FULDAN. In this interview with Bashir Bello, he says the Fulani’s have contributed immensely to the development of the country with two of its illustrious sons, at the helm of affairs and therefore do not deserve poor treatment. He also spoke on how the nomadic education meant to cater for the nomads education and change their thinking from moving in the forest was neglected. What is your reaction to the quit notice order to Fulani herdsmen? We are saddened by recent developments with regards to the eviction notice on Fulani’s to vacate the south because this is want brings about tribalism and ethnic crisis. The Fulani are also Nigerians who have contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria. Talk about Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna), Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa are all illustrious sons of the Fulani who contributed immensely to the development of the nation. Why are their great grand children and children threatened to vacate a part of the country. We are chased away from here and there, where do they want us to go? What do you make of profiling Fulani’s as criminals and what steps have your association taken to comb out the bad eggs denting the image of Fulani? We are actually not happy about profiling Fulani as criminals because there are criminals in all tribes. There is a particular tribe that are known for Yahoo boys and so also there are those known for armed robbery, but they don’t stereotype them. It is the fulani that are stereotyped. Anyone can imitate assent of the Fulani. Their clothes can also be bought in the market. It is not only Fulani. There are bad eggs in all tribes. We are also not left out in the attack. They We are also not left out in the attack. They attack us, rustle our cows and government do nothing about that attack us, rustle our cows and government do nothing about that. So we are not exempted from the attack, in fact it started with us. On what we did to comb out the bad eggs. We sensitized our members on the need not to mix up or harbour criminals in their midst. We ask them to report any criminal to the security agencies in order to ensure they are arrested. But unfortunately, sometimes, if you expose the criminals and report them to the security, they would connive and come back to attack you. And it is well known to all that the Fulani were the first to be attacked. We are not exempted from the attacks. Way forward? They should reconcile, construct RUGA settlement for them wherever they are but I don’t support the eviction notice because we have Yorubas here in Kano too. They are all Nigerians. Everybody should be given fair and equal treatment. Any Nigerian has the right to leave in any part of the country. Similarly, the Fulani should be provided social amenities just as others. Talk about education, health facilities and others to •Faggo better their lives. The Fulani have been neglected on education. And education is the bedrock of every society. Whoever you give education, you have given them life. Governments at all level need to pay more attention on nomadic education which was meant to cater for the education of the nomads. It is not good enough for politicians to abandon or neglect it. Nomadic education should be given the much needed attention, funding and construction of more classrooms. Whoever is educated is empowered. So I call on the government to give the Fulani’s equal opportunities and treatments, whatever is done to others should be done to the Fulani’s. They should be given their rights because they are also citizens and partners in progress. Poor leadership, cause of worsening insecurity —Agundi By Dirisu Yakubu he failure of leadership across all lay Ters of government is largely to blame for the worsening insecurity in the country, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Hon. Baffa Agundi has said. Agundi, a member of the Kano Security Council is worried about what he called the infiltration of politics in the security architecture of the nation, saying until men paid to protect lives and properties of citizens are insulated from partisanship; power abuse would continue to dominate headlines; a development, he added, would culminate in the rise of criminals across the land. Agundi stated this early in the week when he appeared as guest on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast programme on the staple of Channels Television. “When there is failure in leadership, everything fails. When you look at the security situation in the country, it is pathetic. When you come to the North, say Zamfara state, there is no Boko Haram. But all of a sudden, bandits started operating and kidnappers started taking ransom. Virtually, Zamfara is a no-go area now. All these are related to failure of leadership, failure of the security apparatus of the country. If there are checks in the security network of the country, these things would not have been happening. Every part of the country is having its own problem,” he said. On whether the country is ripe enough for a take-off of state policing; the APC chieftain said the idea has its merit even as he pointed out the abuse it could cause, particularly in the hands of overzealous governors bent on teaching their enemies (real or imagined) some lessons. “If you look at the agitation for state police, it has its own problem-the good and the bad. When you allow state governors to have their own police, it is going to be on political affiliation. And if you have your security architecture affiliates with a political party; that is the end of it. Other groups will not have fairness in dealing with security agencies in the state,” he added. While noting that “there are very responsible, serious governors that will do well with the state police,” Agundi argued that such governors would have to be careful if When you allow state governors to have their own police, it is going to be on political affiliation they lack federal backing, lest they fall prey to higher powers. He recalled the trouble he once witnessed as a member of the Ibrahim Shekarauled administration of Kano state, saying “we were in opposition during Ibrahim Shekarau administration; we had many challenges with the police at that time. He was in the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP and Rabiu Kwankwaso who was then a Minister of Defence was in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The Police werealways in support of the PDP no matter what because the federal might was always supporting him no matter what. He continued: “Security in any state of the country should not be compromised; but is compromised in so many levels. Whoever is in power, the security agency will work along with him. This ought not to be so. They are supposed to be independent. •Agundi If they were independent, we won’t be having these problems.” Not a few Nigerians will agree with Agundi given the sorry state of affairs in the country today. Whether in Zamfara, Kaduna, Borno, Owerri or Benin-City, human lives seem the cheapest today. Tales of lives cut short in their prime are perhaps the common denominator in news stories in Newspapers, television and online media. For years, Nigerians clamoured for the appointment of new service chiefs; a call that was only recently heeded by President Muhammadu Buhari. Before their eleventh hour removal, immediate past service chiefs had incurred the wrath of Nigerians including members of the 9 th National Assembly. Speaking exclusively with Saturday Vanguard, Diran Odeyemi, deputy national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said “the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to lead from the front has caused Nigeria more harm than good.” He said: “The worrisome state of security in our land can be attributed to President Buhari and his party that promised Nigerians heavens on earth. When the former Chief of Army Staff told Nigerians that Boko Haram had been degraded and decimated, we were looking forward to improved security. But what did we see? Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers now kill for fun, make videos and circulate same in a dare-devil manner. How long shall we let this continue?” he asked rhetorically Ṫhe new service chiefs have promised to hit the ground running but like Capt. Umar Aliyu (retd) told Vanguard recently, they are a product of the same system that produced their predecessors. This system unless, overhauled to give room to a reign of professionalism would only succeed in throwing up highly credentialed officers who would struggle to meet the expectation of Nigerians.
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13022021 - We'll retaliate - Fulani Association Chair

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