Herdsmen Killings is Terrorism, Ethnic Cleansing, Says Fayose
Victor Ogunje
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has called on the federal government to put a permanent stop to the killings in Benue State by herdsmen, saying “what is happening in the state and other middle-belt states is more than a strive between herdsmen and local farmers, it has gotten to the level of terrorism and ethnic cleansing.
“Just now, we heard the news of the herdsmen attacking the camp of
mobile policemen, Mopol 13 in Benue State, killing two officers by slitting their throats. Do you call people who could invade the camp of mobile policemen in a guerilla manner and overpower armed Mopol mere Fulani herdsmen?”
Fayose, who sympathised with the government and people of Benue State for the murder of 59 people last week, said President Muhammadu Buhari must take decisive steps to stop what he described as an attempt to wipe the Agatu and Tiv people of Benue State off the face of the earth.
According to a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications , Lere Olayinka, Fayose also berated the likes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo for keeping silent while thousands of Nigerians were being killed by herdsmen.
He said: “Nigerians are gradually beginning to see these killings as a case of hand of Esau, voice of Jacob. It is man inhumanity to man, clear cruelty and unacceptable.”
The governor, who said all men of good conscience in the country should rise in condemnation of the nonchalant attitude of the federal government on the herdsmen criminal activities, added: “What is happening in Benue and other states in the North-central is an issue that President Buhari must have to take decisive steps. We never had killings like these under previous administrations. It is one killing too many!”
Fayose said no one can deny the fact that the Fulani herdsmen have become a nightmare to Nigerians.
He said: “On the Global Terrorism Index, Fulani militant group (herdsmen) operating in Nigeria and parts of the Central African Republic is the fourth deadliest known terrorist group.
“A group declared as the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world as far back as 2015 cannot be handled with levity by the federal government as being done presently and the earlier President Buhari is made to realise that his main duty is protect the lives of all Nigerians, the better.
“Most importantly, the silence of the people does not amount to their inability to defend themselves. And it should be known to the powers that be that everybody in Nigeria has rights to life.
“Taking lives cheaply and brazenly as being done by the herdsmen is the height of evil which no responsible government should allow. The federal government must have to take decisive steps to end this pogrom and stop playing to the gallery.
“As it is, police do not have capacity to handle the situation in Benue and we will not be surprised if the herdsmen begin to move from one state to the other to cause further havoc because they are getting away with murder daily. Therefore, the federal government needs to do more; otherwise, Nigerians will begin to see the herdsmen as the APC hit group.”