Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has warned that President Muhammadu
\nBuhari and his government would be held responsible should any Fulani
\nHerdsman or Northerner killed in the southern part of the country.<\/p>\n
The warning came after Buhari had told Fulani herdsmen in the southern
\npart of the country to ignore the directive of the Northern Elders
\nForum, NEF, urging Fulani Herdsmen and Northerners to leave southern
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
CNG’s spokesperson, Abdul-Aziz Suleiman, said in a statement made
\navailable in Abuja that while they welcomed the assurance by the
\npresident, they were not oblivious of the fact that the lives of their
\nkinsmen were not secure in the southern part of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cCNG wholeheartedly welcomes the assurance given by Mr. President and
\nhis government to protect and guarantee the safety of all Nigerians
\nanywhere they are, including the threatened herdsmen in the South.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, however, wish to remind Mr. President and the government that
\nnortherners would hold them fully responsible should any one of them
\nfall victim of the consequences of the concerns we raised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Suleiman said he was amazed at the denial of southern leaders that they
\ndid not declare war on herders following the killing of the daughter of
\nan Afenifere chieftain by those he called “unknown assassins”.<\/p>\n
The group, in conjunction with the Northern Elders Forum, had asked
\nFulani herdsmen to immediately return to the north if their security was
\nno longer guaranteed in the southern part of the country.<\/p>\n
The statement read: \u201cRecall that on July 11 2019 in response to
\nreactions that trailed our earlier submissions, we issued a statement
\nacknowledging the committed concern of the Northern Governors Forum and
\nthe Northern Elders Forum in bringing an end to the tensions instigated
\naround the farmers-herders problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn that response, we indicated our acceptance of the invitation for
\ndiscussions by the leadership of the two forums as a result of which a
\nmeeting with the northern elders was fixed for Tuesday, 15 July 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to the meeting with a prepared position which we presented to
\nthe leadership of Northern Elders Forum in which we highlighted the
\nutterances made by the southern leaders including decisions taken by
\nsome notable political, religious and cultural leaders of the South.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe capped our submission by pointing out the dangerous war bells
\nsounded by the southern leaders that tended to instigate violence
\nagainst the herders living in the South following the killing of the
\ndaughter of the Afenifere leader, Mrs. Olakunrin Fasoranti.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe then politely called the attention of the elders to the imminent
\nattack the Fulani were exposed to in the South while the federal
\nauthorities remained silent on the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a request to the elders by precisely saying that based on the
\nour observations and the fact that the instigation of hatred against the
\nFulani persists, we feel obliged to advise the leadership of the
\nNorthern Elders Forum to consider calling on the Fulani to forego their
\nright to live and flourish anywhere in the south and relocate to their
\nvarious states in the north to ensure their safety noting the inherent
\nreturn value of such denial.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango
\nAbdullahi, responded by acknowledging the concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are worried about their wellbeing. If it is true that their safety
\ncan no longer be assured, we rather have them back in areas where their
\nsafety is guaranteed. The bottom line is that their safety is far more
\nimportant than their stay there. This is a country we all wish to keep
\ntogether and not at the expense of other sections,\u201d Abdullahi was quoted
\nto have said.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cSurprisingly, barely 24 hours after Fulani herders were
\naccused of killing Mrs Olakunrin, leaders of southern groups such as
\nPANDEF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and a certain Middle Belt forum
\nissued a joint statement tending to deny having made inflammatory
\nremarks capable of instigating violence against the Fulani in the South
\nor that the security of the herders in the South was not in danger as to
\nhave warranted concern from the North.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n