Governments, other ethnic groups ‘working to destroy cattle rearing’

A group of Fulani cattle herders, the Coalition of Pastoralist Associations of Nigeria (CPAN), has accused the Nigerian government and other ethnic groups in the country of destroying the cattle farming business.

The group also claimed that hostility shown to the Fulani people, who are mainly cattle herders, has forced many people to leave the country.

The group made the statement during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

It then called on the government and the international community to save the average cattle breeder, whose business “is in decline and who can lose their lives at any time without consequence.”

The National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Baba – Othman Ngelzarma, who spoke on behalf of CPAN, said the briefing was held to draw the government’s attention to the danger being faced by Fulanis across the country. .

Mr. Ngelzarma said when Lake Chad has been negatively affected by global warming forcing herders to find other sources of water and food for livestock, the Nigerian government watched helplessly while the Fulanis were being treated as second class citizens.

“To begin with, we all know that global warming is real, and it is causing Lake Chad to overflow, forcing our people to move south in search of water and food for our livestock. While the Nigerian government has not lifted a finger to recharge Lake Chad and habitable for our people, they have watched helplessly as various communities and state governments in the North Central and South parts of the country consider the Fulani as an irritation or otherwise. alive.

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“The government of the country made a law that is absurd to evict our people. They banned open grazing without providing infrastructure for alternatives. That’s why they confiscated our cattle and arrested our people recklessly, fined unreasonable amounts and all people watch as if everything is fine.

“Fulani have been the target of stereotypes, ethnic cleansing and mass killings in almost every state of the Federation. From Zamfara in the North-West to Adamawa, Taraba in the North-East, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa in the North-Central, down to Ondo and Oyo in the south-west, or worse still the south-east countries, the Fulani people have become the subject of hatred, destroyed for reasons that cannot be determined.

He accused Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, of using livestock guards to arrest and extort Fulani herdsmen.

“Apart from the latest bombing on Tuesday January 24, 2023 in Akwanaja, there were similar aerial attacks on innocent herdsmen in Keana and Awe in Doma LGAs of Nasarawa State,” he said.

Fulani leaders have called on the federal government to investigate the killings of herdsmen in Nasarawa and disband herdsmen.

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