Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has warned that President Muhammadu
Buhari and his government would be held responsible should any Fulani
Herdsman or Northerner killed in the southern part of the country.
The warning came after Buhari had told Fulani herdsmen in the southern
part of the country to ignore the directive of the Northern Elders
Forum, NEF, urging Fulani Herdsmen and Northerners to leave southern
Nigeria.
CNG’s spokesperson, Abdul-Aziz Suleiman, said in a statement made
available in Abuja that while they welcomed the assurance by the
president, they were not oblivious of the fact that the lives of their
kinsmen were not secure in the southern part of the country.
“CNG wholeheartedly welcomes the assurance given by Mr. President and
his government to protect and guarantee the safety of all Nigerians
anywhere they are, including the threatened herdsmen in the South.
“We, however, wish to remind Mr. President and the government that
northerners would hold them fully responsible should any one of them
fall victim of the consequences of the concerns we raised,” he said.
Suleiman said he was amazed at the denial of southern leaders that they
did not declare war on herders following the killing of the daughter of
an Afenifere chieftain by those he called “unknown assassins”.
The group, in conjunction with the Northern Elders Forum, had asked
Fulani herdsmen to immediately return to the north if their security was
no longer guaranteed in the southern part of the country.
The statement read: “Recall that on July 11 2019 in response to
reactions that trailed our earlier submissions, we issued a statement
acknowledging the committed concern of the Northern Governors Forum and
the Northern Elders Forum in bringing an end to the tensions instigated
around the farmers-herders problems.
“In that response, we indicated our acceptance of the invitation for
discussions by the leadership of the two forums as a result of which a
meeting with the northern elders was fixed for Tuesday, 15 July 2019.
“We went to the meeting with a prepared position which we presented to
the leadership of Northern Elders Forum in which we highlighted the
utterances made by the southern leaders including decisions taken by
some notable political, religious and cultural leaders of the South.
“We capped our submission by pointing out the dangerous war bells
sounded by the southern leaders that tended to instigate violence
against the herders living in the South following the killing of the
daughter of the Afenifere leader, Mrs. Olakunrin Fasoranti.
“We then politely called the attention of the elders to the imminent
attack the Fulani were exposed to in the South while the federal
authorities remained silent on the matter.
“We made a request to the elders by precisely saying that based on the
our observations and the fact that the instigation of hatred against the
Fulani persists, we feel obliged to advise the leadership of the
Northern Elders Forum to consider calling on the Fulani to forego their
right to live and flourish anywhere in the south and relocate to their
various states in the north to ensure their safety noting the inherent
return value of such denial.”
According to him, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango
Abdullahi, responded by acknowledging the concern.
“We are worried about their wellbeing. If it is true that their safety
can no longer be assured, we rather have them back in areas where their
safety is guaranteed. The bottom line is that their safety is far more
important than their stay there. This is a country we all wish to keep
together and not at the expense of other sections,” Abdullahi was quoted
to have said.
He added, “Surprisingly, barely 24 hours after Fulani herders were
accused of killing Mrs Olakunrin, leaders of southern groups such as
PANDEF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and a certain Middle Belt forum
issued a joint statement tending to deny having made inflammatory
remarks capable of instigating violence against the Fulani in the South
or that the security of the herders in the South was not in danger as to
have warranted concern from the North.”