Benue group to Buhari: Proscribe Myetti Allah
A group, Mdzough U Tiv, Lagos State chapter, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to proscribe the Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, as a solution to the killings by herdsmen in the country.
The group, in a statement on Tuesday by its President, Kwaghbo Simeon, and Secretary, Chado Isaac, lamented that despite continued killings by herdsmen in Benue State, the Federal Government had yet to address the problem with the required seriousness.
It said it was curious that the Federal Government was quick to proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra but was reluctant to heed the call to declare the killer herdsmen as terrorists.
According to the group, it has become obvious that the killer herdsmen were on an ethnic cleansing mission in Benue State.
“It is a pity that the government of Nigeria rather than acting decisively by deploying the necessary security apparatus to decimate these murderous herdsmen, has resorted to playing blame games with the plight of the Tiv man.
“They have resorted to accusations, threats and, in some cases, outright blackmail. President Buhari saw it good to proscribe IPOB and Niger-Delta Avengers as terrorist groups but has refused to date, to do the same to the murderous Fulani herdsmen.
“The Tiv people are being attacked on all fronts, socially, politically and economically. No matter the challenge, in moments of crisis, a good leader will find some backroom channels across the divide. But rather, the Tiv people have been left to fester with the genocide cheaply presented as a conflict between farmers and herdsmen by Buhari’s security chiefs.
“So far, the security agencies have failed the Tiv people, the government has failed the Tiv people. The international community has failed the Tiv people. We are now left with nowhere and no one to run to,” the group lamented.
To demonstrate its seriousness about tackling killings by herdsmen, the group called for the declaration of Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and the proscription of the association. It called on the security agencies to disarm Fulani herdsmen.
It called on the government to deploy the necessary security agencies in Benue.
It also called on the government to “reconstruct all affected areas, return the hordes of IDPs to their ancestral homes, send our children back to schools and restitute the people for the wanton losses incurred.”Punch
