Herdsmen crisis: Sultan meets Miyetti Allah behind closed doors
- The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, has disagreed with the widespread impression that all Fulanis are criminals
- The northern monarch described as improper the action of tagging the crimes of individuals to their ethnic tribe
- The Sultan told the leadership of MACBAN that he will meet with President Buhari to help curb the influx of bandits from outside Nigeria
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammed Saad Abubakar, has met with the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) over the recent herdsmen crisis.
Channels TV reports that the meeting was held behind closed doors on Friday, January 29 in Abuja, the federal capital.
Although the report did not reveal the full details of the meeting, it disclosed that the secretary-general of MACBAN urged all the body's members to obey the laws in the southwest.
On its part, Daily Trust reports that the Sultan, who doubles as the Chairman, Board of Trustees of MACBAN, admitted that there some bad herders out there.
He, however, disagreed with the general impression that all Fulanis are criminals.
Sultan said:
“I am a Fulani and I am not a bad man. I am also not a criminal. Those engaged in one forms of crimes or another are across the country. it is not proper to refer to any tribe to describe the crime perpetrated by individuals.”
On the issue of kidnapping, the northern monarch raised questions about the criminal activity that is now widespread in the country.
While he agreed that some bad Fulanis worked with kidnap gangs who are made up of other ethnic groups as well, he wondered how they used the millions of naira they are paid as ransom for victims.
Source: Facebook
This, the Sultan said, is key to solving the problem of kidnapping in Nigeria.
He noted:
“For example when they collected N10m where and how do you spend this amount in the bush?
"The money is back in the city, I have told the Inspector General of police to check this, we are not saying Fulanis are not part of the kidnappings as mentioned by the Secretary of Miyetti Allah, seven to eight kidnappers arrested are Fulanis, but that doesn’t mean ever Fulani is a criminal, no they are not."
Sultan Saad Abubakar said he would meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter of some Fulanis coming from neighbouring countries to carry out attacks in Nigeria.
He said:
"We are going to approach the President to talk to our West African neighbours where we have Fulanis like Senegal, Niger Republic Guinea and Mali, to help us, because most of these bandit cross from neighbouring countries conducted their criminal act and run back.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported earlier that President Buhari on Thursday, January 28, warned that stoking ethnic and religious prejudices will jeopardise Nigeria's development.
The president stated this when he received in audience the leadership of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs led by its president-general, the Sultan of Sokoto at the Presidential Villa.
Source: Legit.ng
