Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association blames Goodluck for not passing grazing bill

FULANI livestock rearers body the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (Macban) has hit back at claims its members are terrorists blaming the current crisis in the country on the Goodluck Jonathan administration for not passing the national grazing bill.

 

On Monday this week, Fulani cattle rearers armed to the teeth with AK47 assault rifles committed one of the bloodiest attacks in recent times, attacked the Ukpabi Nimbo community in Enugu State, killing about 48 people. Over recent months, the growing menace of Fulani herdsmen clashing with local communities over grazing rights has escalated frighteningly, often with bloody and fatal consequences.

 

Monday's attack has put pressure on the government to do something about the problem by disarming the herdsmen and bringing the perpetuators of such crimes to book. However, Macban's national secretary Alhaji Baba Othman Ngelzarma has come to the defence of the Fulani herdsmen accused of killing land owners across the country.

 

He blamed the National Assembly of the immediate past administration for neglecting the grazing bill, adding that it is this neglect that has led to the continuous Fulani/farmers crises across the country.  According to Alhaji Ngelzarma, the neglect by the National Assemble has exposed the herdsmen to danger as they have been made to spread to other part of the country to earn a living.

 

Alhaji Ngelzarma said: “There have been many cases of Fulani herdsmen being killed or kidnapped, especially in Kaduna but these incidents were not reported. Fulani herdsmen are victims and culprits at the same time and it is sad that despite being a victim, they are also seen as the culprits.

 

“Theses clashes came as a result of the absence of grazing reserves and the protection of those reserves and if the past administration had done their work, we wouldn’t be having the problem of Fulani herdsmen attack we are having today. Fulani herdsmen were pushed to the southern part of the country because of the search for grass and water but if grass and water were provided in the reserves, they wouldn’t have the desire to go anywhere."

 

According to Alhaji Ngelzarma, some people somewhere are out to profile the Fulani herdsmen as terrorists just to spoil their name.  He expressed displeasure at the light in which the cattle-rearers are seen and blamed the media for that perception.

 

Alhaji Ngelzarma further advocated the need for the grazing bill before the National Assembly to be passed, insisting that it would help curb the violence between herdsmen and host communities. Of late, Fulani herdsmen have been associated with Boko Haram as they run riot across the countryside heavily armed with AK47s.