Northern govs say kidnapping began in Igboland but does not make all Igbos kidnappers

GOVERNORS of Nigeria's 19 northern states have hit back at those labelling Fulanis are criminals and murderers condemning the generalisation adding that kidnapping started in the southeast but that does not make all Igbos kidnappers.

 

Over recent months, heavily armed Fulani cattle herdsmen have been involved in violent clashes with local farming communities across Nigeria, killing hundreds as they unleash mayhem with AK47 assault rifles. On Monday this week, things get very ugly when about 48 people were massacred by marauding herdsmen in Enugu State.

 

This latest attack has attracted national and international condemnation with calls for the government to do something about the Fulani menace once and for all. President Muhammadu Buhari, an ethnic Fulani himself, who also owns cattle, has been criticised for being too soft on the herders.

 

Yesterday, the governors of Nigeria's 19 northern states met in Kaduna to discuss the matter and condemned all those portraying all Fulani as murderous killers. Although the governors condemned the recent attack in Enugu State and those that took part in other parts of the country, they condemned labelling the criminals as Fulani people.

 

Borno State governor Kashim Shettima, the chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), said: “We want to unequivocally condemn the recent killings in Enugu and other parts of the country. However, we equally condemn the politicisation or permit me, the ethinicisation of the whole crisis as it goes beyond Fulani.

 

"If anything happens, they say Fulani herdsmen and to me it is an insult. Kidnapping in this country originated in the southeast, were they called Igbo kidnappers?"

 

He added that Nigeria has a great national challenge and the NSGF want to call on all and sundry to come and solve these common problems as a people. According to Governor Kashim, the blood of paternity that binds all Nigerians together supersedes whatever differences that might divide us.

 

While he condemned the recent Agatu killings too, the NSGF chairman, charged the media to avoid sensationalism and harp on issues that bind Nigerians together. Governor Shettima also disclosed that, following their recent visit to the Islamic Development Bank, the financial institution has resolved to help rebuild northern Nigeria.