BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body of Fulani Herders and Traders Association of Nigeria, has called on patriotic Nigerians to join forces to defeat bad leaders causing conflicts in the country, describing the insecurity ravaging the country as “politically motivated”.
The association’s secretary, Engr Alhassan Saleh, told The Point in an exclusive interview that Nigerians have no problem living with one another. He argued that in any market across the country, Nigerians from different ethnic backgrounds trade and exchange their goods and generally get on well together.
“I think if we give our security services personnel the cooperation they need, they will get over this security problems we are facing because it is largely politically motivated. I don’t think Nigerians have problems living together. If you go to a typical market, you will see Nigerians of different persuasions interacting freely among themselves. So, I think the crises we have are basically elite created, elite sustained with political motives. And I think it is high time patriotic Nigerians rose up and defeat this very insignificant bad people causing crises in this our country and their sponsors”.
Expressing worry at the rate of killings going on across the country, the Miyette Allah scribe said every person with conscience would be worried.
“I think every human being that has a conscience will be worried with the loss of lives of innocent people that we see across the geo-political zones. It’s very sad, it’s very regrettable. We don’t need it and we are going to do everything possible to stop it by supporting the Police, the armed forces, the local traditional outfits and assist government in addressing this insecurity. And those that are behind it should be dealt with decisively, particularly, the corrupt elite that are used to brown envelope, used to carrying “Ghana must go” bags, used to collecting and selling contract papers without doing anything. All those parasites in the Nigerian state that the Buhari administration has cut off. Nigerians must arise and challenge them. Let them stop sponsoring these conflicts all over the country. We must be patriotic enough to know that Nigeria is the only country we have.
He insisted that every criminal has a base and community and that the tag unknown gunmen is a provocative label. “I never bought into the boggey of unknown gunmen or killer herdsmen. Every criminal is known in his immediate society. They are known to the communities. So there is nobody that is not known to both the communities and the locals there. What is not there is the support our security forces need to get these criminal elements, deal with them and their sponsors”, he said.
Saleh, while answering question on what he thinks should be done to douse the tension in the South East and bring people back to mainstream United Nigeria said, “My advice is simple. The two major political parties should nominate an Igbo man from the South East and the matter will fizzle out. That will be the end of the crises in the country.
“If you have an Igbo President, will you hear about IPOB again? Will you hear about secession again? When Jonathan was President did you hear about IPOB or secession or Niger Delta agitations? It’s all about power so they should give them let’s see what they will do.”
