Terrorists attacking farmers, unsuspecting civilians – MBF President, Bitrus

President of the Middle Belt Forum, Pogu Bitrus has assessed the continuous attack on the North-Central geo-political zone of the country.

In this interview with DAILY POST, Bitrus proffered possible solutions to end the incessant attacks on the region and Nigeria at large. Excerpts! 

What is your assessment of the incessant insecurity ravaging North-Central Nigeria?

First of all, that narrative of farmers-herders is one thing we don’t accept but Fulani terrorists on farmers and unsuspecting civilians living in the North–Central geo-political zone of Nigeria. Now the attack is one of the most dastardly ones, because in the past they just shot people but now they burn people alive in their rooms. Now this is something very new in the terrorist attack or the mode of operation of terrorists in this country. It’s so unfortunate, so unacceptable, so dastardly.  And the unfortunate thing is that for so many years we continue to tell the security forces and to Nigerians where these people reside.

They are all in Nasarawa, where they take off and attack Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna and Taraba. It is totally unacceptable. We cannot have a country and then the security forces will be there and be watching and people will even raise distress calls nobody will come. They are receiving taxpayers money. They know where the terrorists are and they are not rooting them out, allowing them to freely attack and kill innocent civilians.

These clashes have been going on for a very long time now in the North Central. How do you access the federal government’s efforts in tackling the matter?

The Government has not allowed people to own arms the way they should or arm people to some level so that they can defend themselves and people have been killed the way they have been killed. It’s unacceptable and this terrorism has to stop if we have a government. Let the government do what is needed. Let me tell you what people are not looking at. Who is the National Security Adviser, NSA? A Fulani man.  Who is the Minister of Defense? A Fulani man. Who is the Minister of State for Defense? A Fulani man. We even learnt that the second in command to the NSA is a Fulani man.

In a country which is so plural with Fulanis, I think they constitute up to 20 percent in this country. So what is wrong with us? What is wrong with governance? Something is wrong. So this thing is so unacceptable. Is it that the President deliberately did it so these people can have easy passage to destroy and kill our people?  We know what is going on and it has to stop. Enough is enough.

There have been claims from some quarters that the attack on the people of North-Central Nigeria is a coordinated and genocidal one. What is your take on this? 

That is absolutely correct. That is what I’m saying too. And it is not only the one in Benue. Now, the one on the Plateau and other places are just the same. One ethnic nationality is being attacked and killed. Many are terrorising innocent civilians. Go to Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs camps and see for yourself the plights of people Fulani terrorists displaced from their ancestral lands. And I think our government is too sensitive to this thing. Our government is rewarding them, for example on the Plateau they have certain land there. A large hectare of land is being given to them. The government did not think of Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and the far North, where they have their residents. They came to the North Central, attacking, maiming, raping and killing innocent people in their ancestral homes.  So Nigeria has a big problem to be solved. We are just keeping quiet but we are not quiet, because our quietness is not stupidity.

Do you think this incessant attack on the North Central, especially Benue, is as a result of the open grazing prohibition law?

The anti-open grazing law came about as a result of the attack. They were attacking Benue before the anti-open grazing law was introduced. It is not the other way round. So these people have been attacking Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, and parts of Taraba, and it has been known for years. They will kill hundreds and go scot free. People will come to lament, it will die down as if that will end and they will do another one that is worse. The anti open grazing law would have sorted this issue.

The only way out of the crises in Nigeria is ranching.  But the Fulanis have brought their brothers from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Senegal, and other places to occupy Nigeria. When we say there should be ranching, and this ranching should be community based but they don’t want to hear because they want all these foreign Fulanis to occupy our land, the same demography making them a major nationality in Nigeria, taking over ancestral land of this country in the Middle belt.

Just wait and see we cannot be stupid. Our parents even fought the British. We are Middle belters because when the British came we were independent of the Caliphate of Borno and it will remain so. The government wants to take over our ancestral land. Our motto is our people, our land, our education and we are ready to defend that land.

What do you think is the way forward to nip this insecurity saga in the bud?

To address the attack, because the federal government has failed, there should be state police in all the local government areas. If you want to defend your land, it should be done through an organised government structure, otherwise there would be chaos. Although, there are some vigilantes in some areas but they too have failed.

The protocol document signed by the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, which allows Fulanis to move all over the country should be abolished and send foreign Fulanis back to their countries to do their businesses there, not here in Nigeria.

Ranching should be introduced and it should be community based. Every community in Nigeria must know their local Fulanis. Those that have been with them since Independence in 1960. Such people can get land in the area where they are known, where there are agreements and let them practise ranching, because ranching is the way forward. It is the globally accepted method of animal husbandry and should be practised in Nigeria as well.

Terrorists attacking farmers, unsuspecting civilians – MBF President, Bitrus