Kidnapping: Mixed reactions trail emir of Muri’s order to Fulani herdsmen
Mixed reactions have trailed the marching order given to Fulani herdsmen by the emir of Muri, Alhaji Abbas Tafida, to vacate his domain if they fail to stop their kidnapping spree in the area.
The emir issued the order on Tuesday while addressing his subjects during the Eid -El Kabir homage in his palace in Jalingo.
The monarch gave the order against the backdrop of incessant kidnapping by the herdsmen with a view to checkmating the menace and ensuring security of not only his subjects but also the entire people in the land.
But while some people have upbraided him over the comment because they believe that he lacks the power to issue such an order and not all Fulani herdsmen are kidnappers and bandits, others have commended him because the order, according to them, is one of the approaches to proffering solution to kidnapping and the emir’s show of concern for his subjects’ safety.
A kidnap victim, Sani Saadu, said that the emir, under the 1999 Constitution, has no power to give any individual or group of people an order to vacate his domain.
He added that the order was an empty threat because the monarch had no any instrument of power like the police and soldiers under his control to execute such order.
Saadu stressed that it was government that had the prerogative to give such instruction because all the security agents are directly under its control.
“I’m a victim of kidnapping. I was abducted right inside my house and my family paid over N2 million before I was released. Those that abducted me were all Fulani herdsmen. But that does not mean that all Fulani herdsmen are kidnappers or bandits,” he said.
Saadu also noted that the ideal thing to do was for government to use traditional rulers and community leaders to find a lasting solution to insecurity and kidnapping in the country.
He said he was abducted in his house and taken to a top mountain and held in captivity for more than two weeks.
Another victim, Yakubu
Dauda, revealed that those that abducted him were all Fulani herdsmen and there were more than 20 other persons, including women kidnapped from different locations.
He told Daily Trust Saturday that at the kidnappers’ den where he was held, all the victims were chained, sorted out by name and released when ransom was paid.
According to him, he suffered in the hand of the abductors until his family members paid N5million before he was released.
Yakubu lamented that the kidnappers were terrorizing innocent people inside towns, in the villages and in the farms.
He stressed that the matching order was in order if that would bring an end to the rising rate of kidnapping in Jalingo and its environs.
He also noted that the emir was a full blooded Fulani man, yet he targeted the order at Fulani herdsmen, his tribesmen, that are terrorizing innocent people and raping women, which demonstrates his sincerity in solving the problem.
“In a situation like this, there should be different approaches . The matching order is one of such approaches. It therefore shows the magnitude of the emir’s concerne for the general interest of his subjects,” Yakubu said.
A resident of Jalingo, Mallam Ibrahim Lawal said: “Today, it was your neighbour that was kidnapped but you don’t who will be the next person to be kidnap tomorrow. That is why every resident of Jalingo sleeps with one eye open,” he noted.
He added that from last year till date, more than 100 persons had been kidnapped in Jalingo and its environs and over N200 million had been paid as ransom.
Lawal Ibrahim recalled that recently, a woman was abducted very close to the emir’s palace, while two persons, including a blind man, were shot dead by the kidnappers.
“The emir is frustrated by the criminal activities of kidnappers who carry out kidnapping almost every night in Jalingo. He can not fold his hands and allow his subjects to be kidnapped in their numbers” he said.
Alhaji Bello Ajuji whose wife and daughter were abducted
recently, said that he was in support of the emir’s position against the Fulani herdsmen.
He stated that 94 percent of the kidnappers was Fulani herdsmen. He lamented that those that kidnapped his wife and daughter were Fulani herdsmen because he spoke with them when he was negotiating payment of ransom.
Bello also disclosed that there was a community in the state that took some drastic measures against Fulani herdsmen over their kidnapping activities in the community and the action yielded results.
He explained that six members of the community were abducted and leaders of the herdsmen were invited for a meeting by the stakeholders of the community.
According to him, when leaders of the herdsmen arrived the meeting, they were arrested and made to produce the six persons abducted.
Within hours, the abductees were released by the leaders. This, he said, showed that the leaders know all the kidnappers among them.
Bello said that since that encounter, nobody has been kidnapped in the community due to the order given to the herdsmen.
A former ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Hassan Ardo Jika, also faulted the emir over the order.
He said that it was unfair to tag all Fulani herdsmen as kidnappers or bandits.
He said that many Fulani herdsmen, too, had fallen victims of kidnapping and cattle rustling in Taraba and many other states in the country.
Jika added that the emir had gone beyond his boundary as a traditional ruler and that when hundreds of Fulani were massacred in Mambilla, Plateau, and many other Hausa -Fulani killed in Wukari and Ibbi, the emir kept mute.
He said that the emir’s marching order was very inciting and could trigger killings of innocent Fulani herdsmen in the state.
A human rights lawyer, Barrister Bilyaminu, said that though the order was an empty intimidation, it could, however, be very useful under the current situation of high rate of kidnapping in Jalingo.
According to him, it could also serve as an encouragement to his subjects who had been devastated and in total fear of the kidnappers’ activities in Jalingo.
He added that the marching order was a wrong signal to kidnappers because it was coming from a ruler who is a Fulani man which means that is not going to be business as usual. Former chairman of Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Taraba State Branch and now Chairman of North -East Zone of the Association, Mafindi Danburan, told Daily Trust Saturday that there was nothing wrong with the emir’s marching order.
He said that a leader should always be bold and courageous to say the truth all the times, especially in a situation like this when criminals are terrorizing his subjects.
Danburan added that the Fulani herdsmen ‘Borori’ came with their cattle to the state and were accommodated, but turned against the people that accommodated them.
He added that the emir that gave the order is a Fulani. Therefore, sentiment should not be attached to it.
“Everybody knows what is happening and the truth should always be told. We are leaders of the Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and we are in support of what the emir has said,” he said.
Danburan also disclosed that a meeting between the emir and all the leaders of Fulani herdsmen as well as leaders of Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association would take place on Saturday (today) to address the issue.
He added that majority of those involved in kidnapping were Bororo Fulani herdsmen and not the resident Fulani pastoralists.
The Kur Jibu Bali, Abubakar Mamud, said that there was a time when kidnapping rate was very high in his domain and the leaders of Fulani herdsmen were assembled and warned.
He said that since then, kidnapping cases had reduced drastically.
“A leader must always be bold and courageous to protect his subjects,” he stressed.