Fulani herdsmen threat: Ohanaeze rolls out war drums

Despite denials by Miyetti Allah over an alleged threat by Fulani herdsmen to forcefully take over Igbo lands, the apex socio-cultural body of Igbos, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, says it’s waiting for the herdsmen to carry out the alleged threat.

Rising from its monthly meeting on Thursday, Ohanaeze in a communique signed by its president general, Nnia Nwodo, said Ohanaeze Ndigbo has noted the assertion and denial of Miyetti Allah that the South East will soon boil. We are waiting for them.”

Directing the people of the area to be vigilant Ohanaeze said they should wait for “our next directives after consultation with our political and religious leaders, legislators, traditional rulers, town unions and affiliate organizations.”

The group also frowned at the plan by Federal Government to give Miyetti Allah a grant of N100 billion and queried “why on earth these gun trotting militants should be protected financially and insulated from criminal prosecution whilst IPOB, an armless group of Igbos is proscribed and categorized as dangerous to national security, bugs our imagination.”

Nwodo said, “In the South East and South West of Nigeria, kidnapping of several indigenes including priests, reveal a huge network of armed herdsmen camped in various bushes and farms. Local reports in some areas point to helicopters sighted in these bushes dropping arms and ammunition in some of these occupied areas.”

Speaking further he said, “Several local and international mining companies have without license occupied parts of Northern Nigeria and engaged in continuous and inhibited illegal mining of Nigeria’s mineral resources, protected by local and foreign militia and carting away and selling valuable mineral resources whose proceeds are undeclared in the national treasury, whereas oil deposits in the South are exploited and used for the benefit of the entire nation.

“A Muslim militant group with all the features and characteristics of ISIS is invading parts of Northern Nigeria, capturing district heads, stealing and rampaging in various communities and forcing Nigerians in these areas to flee from their homes, in some cases, away to neighbouring countries.

“That in Kaduna and other parts of the Middle Belt, Miyetti Allah and their militant herdsmen have continued to kill, maim and destabilize Christian areas of these parts of the country with very little containment of these attackers by our national security forces.

“What is most is that very few arrests, seizures of arms or prosecution have been made in all these instances by our national security forces. The impression is created that their activities have the encouragement, sanction or acquiescence of our national security forces. In the President’s home state Katsina, the District Head of Daura is now under captivity for 32 days.”

Miyetti Allah has since denied having any plans to attack the South East part of Nigeria and forcefully take their lands.