Herders/farmers crisis: Danjuma to address British parliament

Former Minister of Defence Theophilus Danjuma has been rescheduled to speak to the United Kingdom Parliament on insecurity in north central Nigeria, more than a month after the event was postponed.

Danjuma was earlier invited by the British House of Lords to address some select leaders of the House on September 5, 2018. But the event was later postponed.

Sources close to the retired military chief said that the event had been rescheduled and a new date picked.

Danjuma is now scheduled to address the entire members of the House of Lords.

The sources said the Danjuma group, the Westminster Institute, Open Doors USA and other prominent leaders from north central Nigeria have increased their lobby for action on the situation in Nigeria.

Also billed to speak alongside the former Nigerian army chief was the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Ben Kwashi.

The two were invited by David Alton and Caroline Cox, both life peers from Liverpool and Queensbury.

The pressure on the House of Lords may have finally led to the rescheduling of the hearing on the insecurity in Africa’s largest democracy.

A spokesperson for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which coordinated the event and circulated invitations for the postponed event had told a newspaper that the “event was postponed, which is why there have been no reports about it and no record of the event appears on the UK Parliament website.”

Killings along communal and religious fault lines have become recurring decimal in Plateau and Benue states.

In March 24, Danjuma said during the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University in Jalingo, that the Nigerian Army and the police are complicit in the deadly violence.

“The armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the armed bandits to kill people, kill Nigerians,” the retired General said. The military, however, denied the allegations but set up an investigative panel to look into the claims.

After nearly a month of investigations, the military said there was no truth in the allegations.

Many Nigerians had criticized the retired general for making such weighty allegations against the military without providing any shred of evidence.