By FRED EZEH, Abuja

Fulani socio-cultural association, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), has announced the establishment of its own private security outfit called Miyetti Allah Vigilantes nationwide in response to an alleged increase in attacks against the Fulani pastoralists.

According to the group, the vigilantes would operate according to the constitutional provisions and legal requirements of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The decision was taken at delegates’ conference of the Association in Abuja on Wednesday and was endorsed by all state officials and elders of the Association.

MAKH National President and Secretary of the Association, Alhaji Bello Bodejo and Engr Saleh Alhassan, respectively, in a communique released at the end of the conference, noted that the security outfit will assist the security agencies in curbing crime such as cattle rustling, kidnapping and rural banditry.

MAKH alleges that Fulani pastoralists have been carelessly killed by security agencies in the country and other non-state actors, a situation that has necessitated the setting up of their own security force that will secure the lives and of livelihood of Fulani herders.

The Association called on the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) to investigate the atrocities and ensure justice is served, also urging state and federal security agencies to commence the process of detailed documentation of the violence against Fulani herders, including the collection of exhibits and all relevant information to isolate the perpetrators of the violence, in order to arrest and prosecute them.

The group commended the efforts of the federal and state governments in addressing the conflicts between farmers and herders, cattle rustling, kidnapping and banditry, and called on the Inspector-General of Police to protect Fulani pastoralists across the country from tribal hordes, ethnic militias and cattle rustlers. (Text, excluding headline, courtesy Daily Sun)

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