The NationalPresident of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodejo has advanced reasons a war against Niger Republic by the Economic Community of West African States would be to the detriment of the Fulani population in Nigeria.

Speaking on issues affecting the nation, he insisted that 75 per cent of Fulani in Nigeria live like refugees, adding that “the situation is tough; people are crying because of the economic situation in the country, prices of everything are going up on daily basis, especially food items. This is the aftermath of the removal of fuel subsidy.

“Nigerians are now suffering like the Fulani herdsmen. Everybody now is at the same level of suffering. My people’s own is different because they are already used to suffering because nobody, no government remembers them, unlike other Nigerians.The suffering of my people started since 1999, when this political dispensation started; they are not given the same treatment given to other Nigerians. Nigerians are crying because what they are passing through is new to them, but for us, we are used to it. The only problem we have is the different threats from every part of the country. Their problem is not how to eat, but how to survive,” he said.

In how his people are being threatened, he said “ Nigeria is for every Nigerian. You can see a Fulani man, where he is settled was where his forefathers lived, but now you see people would come to such settlements and begin to attack them; asking them to leave the place and if the governor of the such state and the local government chairman are not peacemakers, then serious fighting takes place and in the process they kill many Fulani. Those were the places their fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers were born, and the present occupants don’t know any other place; it is the only place they know, but somebody would come and ask them to leave the area, that it doesn’t belong to them. If our people go to Emir’s place or any traditional ruler to lay their complains, they are not given attention.

“Take for example, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, there were many Fulani settlements there long before it was conceived as FCT. There is this 75-year-old Fulani man that was born in one of the settlements, but recently some people came and asked him to leave because the place doesn’t belong to him. However, if it were the Gwari, Gwandara or other tribes, nobody can ask them to leave.

“The constitution of Nigeria says that if you have lived in a place for a certain period of time, you are an indigene of that place. This thing is disturbing us. As it is in FCT, so also it is even in Taraba, Katsina and Zamfara states. Even in Sokoto, Kebbi, the people are Fulani, but if you are into cattle rearing, then there is a problem. Some Fulani have gone to school and are educated and contested an election and became senators, House of Representatives members, etc; they have left the rural areas, and then it has become a difficult thing for them to help the herders for fear that it will taint their political career. Herders are treated very badly in this country.

“Remember, there was a time the Southern governors were talking about Fulani herdsmen, the Bauchi governor, Bala Mohammed came and said that the herders should be allowed because they have equal right like other citizens of the country, many people attacked him of making a case for terrorists.

“I have instances where some ethnic groups even met Fulani where they had settled, but now they are claiming the place. This is because nothing concerned the herders with grabbing lands, going to government to get papers for land allocation. In the areas where they have settled for a century, they wake up to see surveyors surveying the land, claiming to have the papers for the land. Thereafter, they will drive them out. You are about 30 years old; you come to claim a land where people have been living for over a century.

“The herders don’t get justice in this country. As you are travelling or going by road, if you see any herdsman, ask him if he has ever visited a government hospital or enjoyed any government facilities. Those in Taraba, they are chasing them out, some went to Adamawa, and they pursued them too. Their offence is because they are cattle rearers. This is rainy season, they are moving here and there as there is no particular place to settle. They are used to suffering and about 75 per cent of them are living in their country like refugees. Nobody visits them; nobody goes to find out what their problems were. Look at the crisis in Mangu, Plateau State,” he emphasised. (Story adapted from The Sun)