22022021 - Expect N195 per litre for petrol, marketers warn

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
:Vanguard
News
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru, Peter
Duru, Davies
Iheamnachor,
Luminous
Jannamike &
Olayinka Ajayi
Asocio-political
BUJA—NOTABLE
organizations across the
country yesterday
expressed their support for
call by the governor of
Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun
on the Federal
Government to take
decisive action to rid the
nation’s forests of criminals.
Governor Abiodun at the
weekend had stated that
several forests especially in
the South West have
become the habitation of
criminals and asked the
Federal Government to
take steps to tackle the
challenge.
Some of the groups that
support the governor’s
position include Pan-Yoruba
group, Afenifere; Pan
Niger Delta Forum,
PANDEF; Arewa
Consultative Forum, ACF;
Middle Belt Forum;
Northern Elders Forum,
NEF; Benue Tribal Leaders
amongst others.
Speaking to State House
correspondents, after
meeting behind closed
doors with President
Muhammadu Buhari, at
the Presidential Villa,
Abuja, weekend, Governor
Abiodun said though there
were people who
legitimately reside in the
forests, they have also
become the habitation of
criminals stoking ethnic
tensions around the
country.
He admonished local
northern traditional leaders
(Serikis) residing in the
state to keep registers of
farmers, so as to determine
when undesirable
strangers infiltrate their
ranks.
Abiodun urged the
Federal Government to
initiate concrete steps to
tighten the nation’s borders
to prevent influx of
foreigners, who engage in
criminals activities and flee
to their countries
afterwards.
He said: “We've enjoined
all our Serikis and farmers
to keep a list of those that
live on their farms in
registers, so that when
strangers come in, they will
know who the strangers
amongst them are.
“It is our hope that the
Federal Government will
also now look at how to
better secure our borders,
so that people don't just
cross over, cause crimes
and run away.
“We must do something
about these forests that
harbour criminals,
“We know there are
people that live in the forest
legitimately, but there are
so many people that live in
those forests illegitimately.
We must definitely do
something about them.
“These are some of the
things that we found to
have aided this violence
and escalated it and we
• Gov Abiodun • Pogu • Odumakin
Need to act on forests harbouring criminals:
Afenifere, PANDEF, ACF, NEF, others
back Abiodun
believe that if the right
steps are taken, we can
manage the situation and
we can live together as
brothers and sisters, as
we've always lived for so
many years.”
Abiodun faults
ethnic profoling of
criminals
The governor blamed the
escalation in tensions on
what he said was the ethnic
profiling of criminals that is
occurring, noting that
people in the state find it
difficult to distinguish
between peaceful Fulani
herders and criminal cattle
rustlers.
He explained: “I must say
that the Fulani have lived
with us in Ogun State for
hundreds of years. The
Seriki Fulani from that
particular corridor speaks
better Yoruba than I do
because his father was born
there.
“Part of the problems we
realised we had was ethnic
profiling. Criminals are
criminals and criminals
abound everywhere. There
are criminals in Yorubaland,
there are criminals in
Igboland, there are
criminals in the Niger
Delta, there are criminals in
the north and we see that
even in the north, in the
northeast, in the northcentral,
we see that there
are criminal activities.
“The governor of Niger
State spent a night with me,
by the time he got back to
Niger State, 50 people had
been kidnapped and we
cannot be profiling them
based on ethnic grounds
and be saying, 'oh the
Fulani have kidnapped
Fulani or Hausa men in
Niger.’
“Our people have had a
problem with drawing a
line between peaceful
Fulani people, who are
traditionally herdsmen, and
bandits who are cattle
rustlers, who will steal
cattle, take the cattle to
farmlands belonging to
people, attack them. Now
farmers and indigenes
carry out counter attacks
against innocent people
that have been living with
us.”
To form Joint
Stakeholders
Committee
On the efforts of his
administration to ease
ethnic tension and build
trust among residents, he
said: “We rose up from that
stakeholders meeting with
a few conclusions, one of
which was to form a joint
stakeholders committee
that's composed of the
Fulani, the herdsmen, the
farmers and government.
That has since been put in
place. That committee is
going to be sworn in, I think
sometime this evening.
“We made available
pickup trucks, motorcycles,
telecoms equipment, for the
joint security patrol team to
further strengthen security
along the areas where
these incident had occurred
in the last few weeks.
“I'll like to say that my
colleagues further
demonstrated their
commitment by actually
donating to all sides; to the
farmers and to the Fulani
community.”
On President Buhari’s
response to his brief,
Abiodun said: “I must say
the president was very
impressed with how we've
dealt with the matter.
“He particularly
commented that the steps
we've taken are steps that
he has always
recommended; that we
must have the joint
stakeholders' committee that
has farmers, herders,
traditional rulers and
government and that this
committee should meet like
once a month.”
He added that Buhari
commended the manner
Ogun State has dealt with
the ethnic crisis in the
state.
Afenifere,
PANDEF, Middle
Belt Forum, ACF
others react
Pan-Yoruba Socio-Political
organization, Afenifere, Pan
Niger Delta Forum,
PANDEF and Arewa
Consultative Forum said
the call by Governor
Abiodun is in order.
Speaking on behalf of
Afenifere, the Publicity
Secretary, Yinka Odumakin
maintained that criminals
should be fish out without
hesitation. “Why must you
go to Buhari to seek his
consent on criminals in our
forest? Are you not the chief
security Officer of your
state? Why must you seek
the President’s consent to
get rid of criminals in our
forest? Moves to get rid of
them should be
immediate.”
National Publicity
Secretary, Pan Niger Delta
Forum, PANDEF, Ken
Robinson said: "It shows
that people should defend
their own territory. It is
proper that people should
be vigilant. We encourage
our people to be vigilant.
People should know who
they sell land to and the
stranger that comes into
their community.
"The issues of herdsmen
is not just terrorism, it is
about expansion. It is an
expansionist agenda.
Primordial interest should
not be allowed over the
interest of Nigeria.
"The call is in order. Every
Nigeria citizen should be
very careful dealing with
strangers. Community
people should be aware of
who is coming into their
community. They should
profile their visitors to know
their intentions and mission
before accepting them into
their community.
National Publicity
Secretary of Arewa
Consultative Forum, ACF
also backed Governor
Abiodun’s position. He
said: “In the light of our
current security challenges,
we vote for the two
suggestions. We believe
they will help secure our
lives better."
The National President of
Middle Belt Forum, Dr.
Bitrus Pogu said the forum
agrees with the call by the
Ogun State governor,
adding that the registers
should concentrate on
fishing out foreign herders.
Dr. Pogu who spoke to
Vanguard in Makurdi said:
“We agree with the call by
the Ogun state Governor,
Dapo Abiodun. Let me tell
you why. The Middle Belt
Forum has cried out over
the years on the influx of
foreigners into this country
and we believe that many
of the attacks that happen
in the country are aided by
foreigners.
“We disagree that these
foreigners just come in. We
believe some people bring
them in for some purposes.
And we also believe
strongly that the
government is not telling us
the whole truth.
“Then, when the Ruga
and cattle colony and all
those came up, we
opposed it not because
these programmes are bad
in themselves. We opposed
them because firstly
nobody knows how many
foreign Fulanis are on
Nigerians soil. So we
insisted that every
community know their local
Fulani. That is the starting
point, so that we don’t just
give community land to
people who are not
Nigerians.
“But the government
didn’t want to listen, so we
believe that the
government has a hidden
agenda in that whole
process. That is why we
opposed it. We are in
agreement with the
Governor but we are saying
that the farmers are known,
it is the herdsmen who
come in that are not known.
“It is those people who are
not known, whose numbers
and whose movements
should be curtailed and
known. If we know all the
foreign Fulani that are
coming in then we will
know how to handle them
because I believe that
many of them already have
Nigerian Identification
Cards.
On his part, the
Chairman of Benue tribal
leaders and President
General of Mzough U Tiv
worldwide, Chief Iorbee
Ihagh, said the call by the
Ogun State governor was
apt.
Ihagh said: “the federal
government must have to
work with the state
Governors to open up the
forested communities
where these criminals have
found safe haven and
launching pad to attack
innocent Nigerians.
“The Federal
Government can act fast by
constructing access roads
through most of the forests.
Also these forests can be
harnessed by opening
them up and converting
them to government owned
mechanized farm areas.
“This will create jobs for
people who will moved into
these farms. They would be
provided houses and
security as well. This is
something that can be done
if the government is willing
to listen. Convert the forests
to farms and you will be
surprised that it will
enhance food security in
this country.
“On the issue of
communities keeping
registers to fish out
strangers. That is a laudable
idea. The register should
contain names of the local
Fulanis that are known to
the people and whenever
unknown herdsmen are
noticed in the communities’
security agencies would be
alerted without delay. That
would help to ensure the
security of the people in our
various localities and
communities,” he said.
NEF also backs
Gov Abiodun
The Northern Elders
Forum, NEF, also gave its
support to the call by
Governor Abiodun.
In a statement, NEF’s
Director, Publicity and
Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem
Baba-Ahmed, said: “You
cannot fault the call for a
solution to a problem that
affects all citizens. Our
forests are assets, but the
crimes and the criminal
have turned them into
sources of fear, making
them major threats.
“It will be reassuring to
know that the call is made
for all forests, rather than
those that are alleged to be
a problem because they are
linked to Fulani.
“The North has vast forest
resources, but these have
been taken by bandits. We
hope the federal
government will do what it
needs to do even in those
States which claim that they
have exclusive jurisdiction
over some forest reserves.”
The forum also noted that
the real cause of Nigeria’s
insecurity rested with the
manner the issues of
security and welfare of
citizens were hitherto
designed and managed.
“The country should
address policing and
additional powers to
federating units as a matter
of survival.
“In the meantime, it is
important to continue to
treat forests as economic
assets that should be made
accessible for lawful
activities including
herding,” the Forum said.