Borno Cleric Advises Southern Governors Against Fulani Herdsmen

 The Director General, Centre for Justice and Ethnicity in Nigeria, Pastor Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, has urged governors of southern states to emulate a recent move by their Ondo counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, to prevent Fulani herders taking over their land.

Akeredolu had earlier banned night grazing and given an ultimatum to herders in the state to vacate forest reserves. 

Speaking in an interview with SaharaReporters, the Borno cleric described Akeredolu's action as a step in the right direction.

He, however, urged governors from the South-East, South-West and South-South to follow suit.

He said, "The southern governors had better take charge of their lands and send the Fulani people back to the North. Must they stay in the South? I am speaking from experience because I am from Borno State and these people took all our land. They sent our fathers and mothers away from the farms. Our people are in internally displaced persons’ camps; they cannot stay in the villages for fear of being killed.

"Any Fulani you see in Borno is a settler, we accommodated them and see what we got. The target is Southern Nigeria and it is better the people speak up now, so that Fulani will not take over the land."

He also alleged that the Fulani people causing trouble in the country are from neighbouring countries with a mission to take over the economy. 

According to him, the majority of the bureau de change operators in Abuja hardly speak Hausa language as they either come from Mali or Niger Republic.

He added, "In Abuja here, the bureau de change operators cannot even speak Hausa, they are not Nigerians but Nigeriens. They have come to take over the economy and once they do that, they will start controlling us."

He revealed that a northern Christian cleric who was kidnapped and later freed was told by his captors that they planned to kill all the Christians in the North and thereafter storm Southern Nigeria.

He said: "That pastor will not tell you this, they are being diplomatic with this kind of information instead of speaking out so everybody will know. The problem of insecurity has come to stay, but we need to speak out so the narrative can change. We can't keep folding our arms while our people are being killed. 

"Two of the kidnappers who kidnapped the pastor here in the North are actually based in Benin City, Edo State; they are already in the South. The onus is on the governors to take charge. Federal government will not help anyone."