'Ignore Northern elders,' South-West governors want herdsmen to stay in their region

The South-West Governors’ Forum has reportedly asked Fulani herdsmen in the south to ignore the directives by northern elders asking them return to the north, where their safety is guaranteed.

On Tuesday, July 16, 2019, the Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi said the call for herdsmen to return to the north was informed by the alleged realisation that their lives have allegedly been put at risk because of recent utterances of some governors in the southern part of the country.

However, South-West governors have described the statement as unpatriotic.

According to the Chairman of the forum and Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, the governors wanted herdsmen to remain in the region.

Akeredolu said this in a statement on behalf of the forum saying the South-West governors were already making efforts to provide adequate security for everyone in the region.

The statement read, “We call on all persons of Fulani extraction, and indeed all Nigerians from other parts of the country, resident in the South-West to discountenance the unpatriotic outburst of the NEF and other self-serving group of opportunists.

However, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, the umbrella body for Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria has reportedly asked herdsmen to defend themselves against any militia group in the south, saying cattle herders should enjoy their rights to movement.

The call by the body came barely three days after President Muhammadu Buhari urged herdsmen in the south to ignore the statement by northern elders asking them to return to the north.

In a telephone interview with Punch on Thursday, July 18, 2019, the National Secretary of the group, Saleh Alhassan said governors in the south would be held responsible if any herdsman is attacked in their region.