Three prominent socio-cultural groups in Benue State, Mdzough U Tiv, Ochetoha K’ Idoma, and Omi Ny’Igede, have again called on the Federal Government to arrest leaders of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.
Leaders of the socio-cultural groups, CP Iorbee Ihagh (retd), AVM Tony Adokwu (retd), and Dr Ben Okpa, respectively, in a joint statement, said the arrest of leaders of the Fulani organisation would prove that the Federal Government is serious and dispassionate and fighting insecurity in the country.
The groups commended the Federal Government for its efforts which led to the rearrest of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, but noted that the government should also arrest leaders of Miyetti Allah to show that it is not biased.
The groups said Fulani herdsmen had turned Benue State and the whole country to a slaughter slab as they carry out wanton destruction of innocent lives.
Their statement reads: “Militia herdsmen under the guise of grazing their cattle have visited mayhem on farmers, leading to killings and displacement of thousands from their ancestral homes with farmlands no longer accessible.
“Hundreds have been orphaned and wives widowed. Peasant farmers who had hitherto contributed to making Benue the Food Basket of the Nation can no longer go to their farms for fear of being killed. The hunger in the land is unimaginable.
“It is already in the public domain that the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, was recently rearrested by the Federal Government and brought back into the country to face prosecution.
“We commend the Federal Government for its efforts which led to the arrest of Kanu and it is our belief that government will ensure justice in this matter for the good of our country.
“As we commend the Federal Government for this feat as part of efforts to address insecurity in our great country, we wish to draw the attention of the Federal Government to another security challenge that portends great danger to food and national security – the activities of militia herdsmen and their sponsors.
“We are deeply concerned and worried that the Federal Government has refused to look inwards by arresting leaders of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and other violent Fulani groups who openly threaten and carry out attacks on communities in Benue and other states of this country without any form of resistance.
“If the same energy expended in arresting Nnamdi Kanu can’t be applied to arrest ‘terrorists’ who are freely walking on the streets of Abuja and other cities of Nigeria, then it is questionable.
“It is public knowledge that the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, in a recent address, alluded to the fact that foreign herdsmen are living inside forests across Nigeria and are responsible for the banditry and other terrorist activities in the country.
“Incidentally, these people have known links that speak out when some of the attacks are carried out. Unfortunately, they have never been invited for questioning by security agencies. What a fight against insecurity.
“We wish to state unequivocally that in Benue State, militia herdsmen are 95 percent behind insecurity and hunger. They threaten attacks and claim responsibility for the killings. We wonder why the Federal Government turns a deaf ear to such insolence. What a selective justice?”
