RUGA: Stay Where You Are And Defend Yourselves, Miyetti Allah Tells Fulani Herdsmen

“The only thing we would say is that we will hold all the governors of those states responsible for their safety and security, but if any ethnic militia, by any name, attack our members, they should defend themselves in a manner that nobody would try such again."

etti Allah Kautal Hore, a Fulani interest group, has called on its members to defend themselves from other ethnic groups in Nigeria. 

Salah Alhassan, national publicity secretary of the group, in an interview with The Punch on Saturday, said, “We are Nigerians and we have a history. Anybody that thinks he can wake up and take on the Fulani pastoralist is making a grievous mistake, we are well prepared to defend our fundamental human rights of movement in this country.

“They (herdsmen) are Nigerians, so they are entitled to stay where they are. They should remain where they are and defend themselves against ethnic militia and assert their citizenship in this country.

“The only thing we would say is that we will hold all the governors of those states responsible for their safety and security, but if any ethnic militia, by any name, attack our members, they should defend themselves in a manner that nobody would try such again.

“We have been saying it that people behind insecurity are not herders; bandits are behind these killings, and if the government is saying foreigners have infiltrated the herders, have they been arrested and what is their nationality? Anybody that is trying to destabilise this country should be dealt with.”

Addressing the call by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) for herdsmen to vacate the south, Alhassan said, “those so-called northern youths called a coalition of northern groups should note that if because of their action any herder is killed, we will first look for them before we go after our enemies.”