The national body of the Fulani, known as Kawtal Fulbe-Nigeria, has directed all its members nationwide, especially the Miyetti Allah cattle breeders, to boycott the ongoing public hearing on the anti-grazing bill in Taraba State.
In a statement yesterday in Jalingo, the national leadership of the group, which alleged the persecution of the Fulani in the state, urged the government to “address the current issues in Taraba, especially as they affect our people.”
The statement by the North-East chairman of the group, Mafindi Umar Danburam, reads in part: “These are definitely not the best of time for the Fulani (Fulbe) in Taraba State as the Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku-led administration is fully out using the state powers to totally eliminate us with a grand plan to make the state a no-go-area for the Fulani.
“For two years running, it has been a total war that has put our people in all spheres of life under tormenting and dehumanising condition. The Fulani are constrained to state that the proposed prohibition of the said grazing bill in the state is part of the agenda to empower ethnic militia groups across the state for total ethnic cleansing as started in Sardauna Local Government Area.”
The Fulani group further said: “We refused to be cajoled into accepting the deceitful phrase in the bill which tends to promote ranching, because even where the ranching system is fully operational in Sardauna Local Government, our people are no longer safe with their livestock. The bill is nothing more than a draconian law intended to segregate, witch-hunt decimate and eliminate the Fulani in the state.
“All Fulani groups across the nooks and crannies of the country had met and agreed that none of us is participating in the state government window dressing approach of dealing with the security challenges, including the deceitful public hearing on the bill put in place to further abuse our sensitivity and show us more hatred less than a week after the massacre of our people on the Mambilla Plateau.”
The group called on all the Fulani “participating in all committees set up by the state government” to as a matter of urgency “disengage immediately as we continue to mourn the hundreds of Fulani massacred by the Mambilla under the protection of the state government.”
They urged the Acting President and the National Assembly to “declare emergency rule in Taraba State to allow for a neutral leadership to restore peace and order based on justice, equity and fair play to all.”
In its reaction, the state government said it had deployed men and materials in the affected areas to give succour and quicken the healing process.
