The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the position of the Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Danbazau a retired Lieutenant General that government won’t deploy soldiers to confront killer Fulani herdsmen.
The rights group said the Minister of Interior who has come under close scrutiny and intense criticisms for his recent rash of one sided and sectional appointments of heads of para-military organisations under his beat has just displayed crass lack of passion to finding lasting solution to the dare devil activities of armed Fulani herdsmen whose deadly violence visited on many farming communities by far outweighs the extent of damage and destruction wrought by Boko Haram terrorists.
HURIWA said it amounted to sabotage of the National Security interest and a constitutional breach for a Federal Cabinet member to take a position in tacit support of armed mass murderers who have in the last two years taken their brazen and murderous attacks to many more states across all geopolitical zones of Nigeria than even the dreaded armed Boko Haram terrorists whose dare devilry have been substantially restricted to the North East; North Central and North West of Nigeria.
The rights group said the statement by the minister amounted to a direct confirmation of the apprehensions in many quarters about the highest political backup and support from the highest political hierarchy given to members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle rearing association whose members constitute the bulk of the armed Fulani herdsmen that have terrorized Taraba, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Enugu and Delta states with over 10,000 casualties and individual assets worth several billions destroyed by the rampaging Fulani terrorists.
The rights group said it was not even in the place of the Minister of Interior to say whether armed soldiers would be deployed to tackle armed Fulani herdsmen whose murderous activities have not only threatened national security but are capable of causing civil war amongst the diverse Ethno-religious groups in Nigeria.
HURIWA condemned the Interior Minister “for making that senseless statement that armed Fulani herdsmen who are as deadly as terrorists won’t be confronted by soldiers but police.” The group said it is in the place of President Muhammadu Buhari to make such a categorical statement and wondered why it has to be the minister who has no control over the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the Nigerian Constitution.
HURIWA said: “We believe that Abdulrahman Danbazau is playing the role of agent provocateur to disclose the inner plots of Northern Political hawks who are actually the employers of the armed Fulani terrorists wrecking havocs across southern states and Christian dominated North Central states. President Muhammadu Buhari must come out openly to condemn these killings by his kinsmen and deploy all necessary military and security apparatus to degrade and destroy the capacity of the armed Fulani herdsmen to unleash violence because if effective military actions aren’t deployed to tackle these killers then the Nigerian government is simply preparing ground for more killings by Fulani herdsmen because the Nigerian police which failed to stop Boko Haram terrorists at inception have severally proven incapable and unprepared to check the violent activities of Fulani herdsmen. The killings by Fulani herdsmen amounted to serious and grave threat against the territorial integrity of Nigeria so it is wrong headed for the Interior Minister to reduce the activities of mass killers to mere law and order matter. This is substantially spurious and an attempt by the Interior Minister to disclose the interior motives of some persons in the central government to do nothing whilst the killing spree by armed Fulani herdsmen continues.” (News Express)
Quite a conundrum. It may be more purposeful if state police system is considered for Nigeria. The politics being played over people’s lives has to stop so we can remain one and indivisible nation. The structure at the moment seem over-lapping and consequently not meeting the collective expectations.
I’d think there are underpinning rationale for the minister’s statement; howbeit, it required details and elaborate explanation.