By Goddy Ikeh

It is now obvious to many Nigerians that the usual practice of allowing a pothole to develop into a crater on our roads before any effort will be made to award a contract to resurface the entire stretch of the road instead of patching the pothole is being replicated in our security issues in the country. The reasons are often attributed to the gains that will accrue to government officials when contracts are awarded for road maintenance. Sadly, this is the vogue in security issues, and it is worrisome since human lives and destruction of properties are involved. When the Boko Haram insurgency started, the government did not tackle it until it assumed the monster that has been tormenting the country for close to a decade now or more.

Today, it is the Fulani herdsmen, the bandits and kidnappers and the same approach is being adopted in tackling the issues when the previous approach failed to yield any desirable result.

And the apparent failure of the government to provide security for the people has resulted in the setting up of vigilance groups in cities and villages. The nation’s security apparatus like the police have failed to sufficiently protect the lives and property of Nigerians. It is in the light of this development that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, MACBAN, offered to establish a vigilante group in the Southeast to protect their members.

Unfortunately, the ‘’Greek Gift” offer by MACBAN was rejected by their hosts since the recent activities of their members portrayed them more as foes rather than friends.

Rising from its Security Summit recently, the South East Governors Forum rejected the demand by MACBAN for the establishment of a vigilante group.

The Summit was convened by the Southeast Governors’ Forum to proffer solutions to lingering clashes between herders and farmers in the region that had resulted in killings and destruction of farmlands by the herdsmen.

Since the news of the MACBAN’s demand was made public, it has generated mixed reactions from Nigerians, especially the people from the Southeast region of the country.

For instance, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has described the state governors in the South-East as cowards for failing to defend the Igbo people when MACBAN offered to raise a vigilante outfit to protect the region.

MASSOB explained that while the governors and leaders in the South-West were suggesting ways to tackle the menace of herdsmen within their states, governors in Igboland could not reject the suggestion.

The Sunday Punch report said that the director of information of MASSOB, Sunday Okereafor, said in a telephone interview, that the Igbos should know that the attitude of their governors was an indication that they had no leader.

He said, “We say no to the plan to make Igboland part of Fulaniland. If there is any problem in the South-East, the governors indicted will pay the price; it is going to be a heavy price. We are ready for them.’’

In the same vein, the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, also condemned the call by the cattle breeders association.

It warned the Federal Government not to heed the demand of the group, saying the government should stop treating the group with “obnoxious impunity”.

In a statement signed by PANDEF’s National Secretary, Alfred Mulade, it stated that the call was misplaced, promising to stand with other socio-cultural bodies, including the Ohaneze Ndigbo and Afenifere, to ensure the failure of such plan.

PANDEF asked the group to rather form a vigilante group to tackle insurgency in the troubled North-East.

Reacting to various opinions expressed on the issue, especially the view expressed on the social media alleging that the governors were in agreement with MACBAN on the issue, the Chairman of the forum and governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, described the allegation that the governors allowed MACBAN to form vigilante groups in the zone as strange.

In a statement, Umahi said: “I find it extremely strange for anybody to think that none locals in any part of the country, including South East could be allowed to form vigilante outfit.

“The Miyetti Allah group may have made that suggestion, which I believe will never mean to form a vigilante in the South East. Whatever is the meaning, no governor will allow that.

“South East Governors have their local vigilantes working with security agencies. Any such demand by Miyetti group is a joke and not acceptable. Governors of South East are doing their best and we have no problems receiving insults from our people. It is the price for leadership.”

In his reaction, Nnia Nwodo, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said in a statement that the people of the Southeast would not agree to anything that could further compound the security of the zone.

“These are people, who have ravaged our farms, raped our women and slaughtered their husbands. As at today they technically enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution.  They freely display AK47 rifles not permitted to be used by civilians. Extending this measure to them will turn them into an army of occupation and invite unavoidable confrontations with our youths. We will resist such a policy with every might available to us.”

Another Igbo group, Ndigbo Lagos, the umbrella body of all Igbo organizations in Lagos, rejected the call by MACBAN, for the establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante groups in communities of the South East.

Tony Eze, the director of communication and strategy for Ndigho Lagos said in a statement that while it commends the group for their interest to help find a lasting solution to the increasing menace of herdsmen, that Ndigbo Lagos “rejects their call in its totality, and applaud the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Nnia Nwodo, and the leadership of Afenifere for roundly condemning and rejecting such a senseless impunity from the Miyetti Allah leadership”.

“We are convinced such a call will not serve an effective complimentary effort to the existing legally instituted security architecture in place in Igboland, and will want to assure them that the South East has enough youth, manpower and capacity to compliment the efforts of all state actors in their bid to end the menace of Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers and armed bandits in the zone.”

He noted that Miyetti Allah is a nondescript body unknown to the nationalities structure of Nigeria.

‘’Hence, we call on them to continue in the path of demonstrating good faith by simply reigning-in these killer herdsmen, who if probed deeper, may not be unknown to their members,’’ he added.

A Catholic cleric, Rev. Father David Ihenacho, of the Ahiara Diocese, has lent his voice to the raging issue in the southeast. Writing in his Facebook page, ‘Fulani Invaders are Here at Last!”, Ihenacho noted that in the last couple of weeks, there have been insinuations and conflicting signals about what the notorious Fulani herdsmen might be up to in the Southeast region of Nigeria.

He recalled that there was the leader of the so-called Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, announcing to the whole world that the Southeast region of Nigeria would soon boil and perhaps burn as well because of their stubbornness and refusal to turn over their farmlands to the invading Fulani herdsmen for the grazing of their cattle. And that there was the predictable immediate denial of the truth of the announcement by the already embedded members of the herdsmen in the region.

He added that on June 21, 2019, a meeting in Enugu featuring Southeast Chambers of Commerce with the Governors Forum of Southeast Zone also featured the representatives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, who came up with the “brilliant” idea that the youths of the Fulani herdsmen should be given a vigilante role in the Southeast zone to complement those of the local vigilantes of the different communities of the zone.

He, however, noted that the reality of the moment is that there are indications and insinuations everywhere suggesting that some Fulani danger men might be planning something nefarious against the Southeast region, home to ethnic Igbos who are predominantly Christians.

“The truth of the matter is the invaders are already embedded in the Southeast region. It turns out that the long-held rumour that all the “megards”, shoe-shiners, quack tailors, jewelry and embroidery sellers, who have been in Southeast and plying their trades among us for quite a long time now may in fact be Fulani invaders bidding their time and waiting for some sort of a signal from their high command somewhere in Nigeria to attack us,” he warned.

However, the looming danger ahead is the planned establishment of cattle colonies in many states of the country. Several states, ethnic nationalities and security experts have condemned this initiative and warned the federal government of the possible consequences of this decision.

Nigeria is really in a difficult situation today and we need a surge in diplomacy and the boldness of our leaders and the goodwill of eminent Nigerians for peace to reign in every part of the country since the current challenges facing the country are governance related.

– June 29, 2018 @ 19:45 GMT |