…Says Buhari must call his kinsmen to order
…Wants killer herdsmen, inciters of ethnic tension dealt with according to law
The Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU) has faulted a recent statement credited to the leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo, in which he, among other things, claimed that all the lands in Nigeria (including the ancestral lands of the Igbo) belong to them.
ASETU also faulted the assertion by Bodejo asserted that they need no permission from anyone to grab any land they needed anywhere in Nigeria, adding that they had been occupying all the forests in Nigeria for 250 years.
In a press release by Chief Emeka Diwe and Hon. Gideon Adikwuru, National President and National Secretary respectively, ASETU recalled that before now, it had written the United Nations and the Government of the United States over the nocturnal influx of aliens, in a coordinated manner, into Igbo forests.
It added that it had also cried out over the wanton killings, rape and destruction of farmlands which had become daily facts of life in the forests noting that “with the claim by Miyetti Allah that Nigeria and all of its lands and forests belong to them, and that they need no permission from anyone to operate anywhere, we now know with mathematical precision who the invaders are and what their mission is.”
“We hereby state in clear terms that Igboland does not belong to the Fulani, or Miyetti Allah, or the herdsmen. Igboland belongs to Igbo people. The herding of cattle is a private business. Just like every business the Igbo do across the world, the use of land is obtained through rent or purchase. The leadership of Miyetti Allah must understand this fact and stop their provocative, unguarded and uninformed utterances forthwith. Open grazing is antiquated, retrogressive and a potent driver of conflict.
“We hereby reiterate our early position that all those who may wish to continue with cattle business in Igboland must be ready to build ranches and keep their cows in them. Open grazing of cattle is unacceptable to us and the Governors and Houses of Assembly in Igboland should quickly enact the anti-open grazing legislation which we have umpteen times demanded”, it further said.
The group however called on President Muhammadu Buhari, who also is a Fulani to realize that he has a key role to play in this issue as they (Miyetti Allah) look up to him as their leader and seem inspired by his body language.
“President Buhari should therefore call his kinsmen to order, condemn their atrocities, uphold his oath of office which is to be fair to all Nigerians, and make sure justice is done to all. The claim of ownership over our ancestral lands by Miyetti Allah is not just an existential threat to us as Ndigbo, but it is a matter that is capable of shaking the very foundations of Nigeria.
“Finally, we completely reject the red-carpet treatment that armed herdsmen receive from the Government of the country. People who take the lives of our fellow citizens must be dealt with in accordance with the law. Also, those who aid and abet their infamy, stoking the embers of violence and ethnic tension must be brought to book to save Nigeria from becoming a banana republic”, ASETU submitted.
Photo: Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari.
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