In October 13, 2000, General Mohammadu Buhari led lorry loads of<\/p>\n
Northerners mostly Fulanis to Governor Lam Adesina over the killing of
\nFulanis in Saki, Oyo State.<\/p>\n
Fulanis had clashed with Yoruba farmers in Saki, over grazing.<\/p>\n
At about 2 p.m., same day, Buhari arrived in a long convoy at the
\ngovernor\u2019s office in company of the former governor of Lagos State,
\nGeneral Buba Marwa, Alhaji Aliko Muhammed, Alhaji Abdulrazak and Alhaji
\nHassan. They all wore long faces.<\/p>\n
And in an angry tone, asked the shocked Governor Adesina why he has not
\ndone anything to stop the killing of Fulanis, demanding that compensation
\nmust be given for the killings<\/p>\n
His words: \u201cYour Excellency, our visit here is to discuss with you and
\nyour government our displeasure about the incident of clashes between two
\npeoples\u2026 the Fulani cattle rearers and merchants are today being harassed
\n, attacked and killed like in Saki. In the month of May, 2000, 68 bodies
\nof Fulani cattle rearers were recovered and buried under the supervision
\nand protection from a team of Mobile Police from Oyo State Command.<\/p>\n
\u201c That some arrests were made by Oyo State Police Command in the massacre
\nwith their immediate release without court trial. This was said to have
\nbeen ordered by Oyo State authorities and they were so released to their
\namazement. The release of the arrested suspects gave the clear impression
\nthat the authorities are backing and protecting them to continue the
\nunjust and illegal killings of Fulani cattle rearers\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the general, they therefore wanted immediate stoppage of the
\nkillings, justice and compensation to the Fulanis.
\nGovernor Lam Adeshina in response spoke for about 20 minutes and the
\ngenerals were at the edge of their seats for the entire period.<\/p>\n
Lam said: \u201c Before I thank you for this visit, you have come to tell me
\nsomething. I also want to tell you something and that something is to make
\nan appeal. General Buhari has been a former Head of State, Brigadier Marwa
\nhas governed Lagos for some time and with credibility\u2026 so you are national
\nleaders of this country. Even though, by accident of birth, you are from
\nthe North, you can be born anywhere; may be next time when I am coming to
\nthe world, I will be born in the North or the South-South. \u201cMy appeal will
\nbe that effort must be made to unite this country and that will be \u00efn the
\nbest interest of all Nigerians. I am appealing to the Arewa Consultative
\nForum, under which auspices our distinguished Nigerians are here; in
\nrecent times, they have been sending wrong signals to a number of us who
\nbelieve in the unity and peace of Nigeria; you have been too critical of
\nthe efforts of the Federal Government. I am saying this because Nigeria,
\nat this point, cannot afford to break and the words you northern leaders
\nutter are very weighty, at the South here, we normally analyze them
\ncritically\u201d.<\/p>\n
On all the allegations, he said: \u201cFrom what they have written in the
\npetition, this government is completely blameless because we don\u2019t
\ninterfere either with the judiciary or with the police functions. I always
\npreach peaceful co-existence in Oyo State and Nigeria as a whole. We are
\nall Nigerians and that is what we have been preaching all along and we
\nshall continue to be Nigerians , no matter the present or immediate
\nproblems which will be solved by the grace of Allah.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say also that we really have to appeal to our people, the
\nitinerant Bororo people, that they should observe less aggression. It is
\nnot good , it is not right just coming from somewhere then you just pass
\nthrough farm lands cultivated may be with the person\u2019s life savings and
\nthen over night everything is gone. That is not right, even Allah does not
\napprove of that.<\/p>\n
We even wonder when they talk about this people carrying dangerous
\nweapons, I say do they really believe in Allah? When you just take life
\nlike that and go away! Are we not forbidden not to take human life?<\/p>\n
So I think General Buhari, General Marwa, you have to be educating them\u2026
\nIt is my pleasure to inform you that at the Presidential Lodge, we have
\nmade some arrangements for refreshments so that before you go we can
\nrefresh together\u201d.<\/p>\n
Buhari and his team did not wait for any refreshments. They came in angry
\nand left bewildered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In October 13, 2000, General Mohammadu Buhari led lorry loads of Northerners mostly Fulanis to Governor Lam Adesina over the killing of Fulanis in Saki, Oyo State. Fulanis had clashed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n