The formation of an armed Vigilance Force by Fulani herders operating under the auspices of “Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore” has been denounced by the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, SOKAPU.
According to the Miyetti Allah organization, the creation of a militia to wield arms was done to defend ranchers across the nation, particularly those in Benue State.
However, the SOKAPU, an umbrella organization of the southern Kaduna people in Kaduna State, contended that the Fulani’s decision to carry weapons was a call for anarchy and a new civil war in the country.
In a statement delivered by its spokesperson Luka Binniyat in Kaduna on Thursday, the SOKAPU claimed that if the Fulani herders were allowed to organize the Vigilance Force, then other ethnic nationalities had to be allowed to do the same.
Therefore, the union pleaded with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), not to dismiss Miyetti Allah’s decision to establish a Vigilance Force as routine.
According to SOKAPU, “That is what a serious country will do,” the presidency should have called for questioning the Miyetti Allah group’s leadership by now.
The union, however, commended Bello Matawalle, the governor of Zamfara State, for establishing a volunteer vigilante service that will be trained by the Nigeria Police Force and urged other Middle Belt and Northern states to imitate the Zamfara state headman.
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The statement partly read,”The unwelcomed news that Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a powerful socio-cultural Fulani group, is forming its own vigilante group, should alarm all Nigerians who care about the existence of Nigeria as a corporate entity.
“The Secretary General of the group, Saleh Hassan, made the grim disclosure Four days ago in an interview he granted the International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
“Hassan ought to have been called for questioning to find the real motive behind such an unwarranted plan and to ascertain how far his group has gone into the scheme. In fact, the group ought to have been banned. That is what a serious country will do.
“The Fulani, even as a large ethnic group, do not have an exclusive state in almost all the states of Nigeria, and are certainly not natives of Benue State or anywhere in the Middle Belt.
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“With over 200 Southern Kaduna Communities sacked and displaced by armed herdsmen and allied criminals after hundreds were killed and more wounded, the sight of an armed Fulani vigilante force on our soil will be a very provocative act that will push other tribes to form same.”
It added, “Any attempt therefore, to allow the Fulani to form, arm, kit and operate an armed wing so brazenly, is to also approve other ethnic groups to do same.
“In other words, SOKAPU is saying that a civil war may spark off if Fulani and other ethnic groups obtain arms for the exclusive reason of protecting themselves as groups under various independent commands.
“President Mohammadu Buhari must not take this lightly, even though he is fond of glossing over serious matters of security concerns.For the avoidance of doubt, SOKAPU condemns the formation of Fulani Vigilante force.
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“No state government must allow any tribal group to form its own Vigilante group. It is a direct line to insurgency and separatism.
“At this point, SOKAPU wishes to hail the governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle for forming a volunteer vigilante service which he will train and arm under the supervision of the Nigeria Police.”
“We encourage other governors of the Middle Belt and the North to copy Governors Ortom and Matawalle in their drive to secure their states.”
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