Fulani leader, group urge Buhari to rejig security architecture

The crisis between the Tiv of Benue State and Jukun of Taraba State should be a cause for concern to Nigerians, hence the need to rejig the country’s security architecture, says a Fulani leader, Siddiki Gidado.

Gidado, who is the South East chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), stated this yesterday during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in Awka, Anambra State.

He lamented the destruction of lives and property by the militia of the two warring ethnic groups, which he described as monumental and worsening by the day.

Noting that houses were destroyed while residents in the two states were fleeing for dear lives, he stressed that the militia groups might resort to kidnapping and killing.

According to him, there have been reports that the militias have had to swoop on travellers to search for ‘enemies’ to either kidnap or kill.

He cited the kidnappings in Wukari (Taraba) and Benue, which were blamed on the Fulani.

Gidado revealed that 60 per cent of the Fulani lost their means livelihood through cattle rustling and herders-farmers clashes, and called on the Federal Government to come to their aid.

Meanwhile, Good Governance Initiative (GGI) has berated President Muhammadu Buhari over the rising level of insecurity in the country.

It, therefore, called on the president to immediately effect changes in the nation’s security architecture to curtail the menace.

President of the group, Nnosike Nwosu, regretted that insecurity had degenerated to a level where security operatives kill one another.

He told The Guardian yesterday in Abuja that the Federal Government’s inability to find solution to growing poverty was partly responsible for insecurity in the country.

“Apart from Fulani herdsmen killing people on a daily basis in this country, armed robbers and kidnappers are also having a field day because of lack of purposeful leadership in the land,” he said.
While calling on the president to ensure a total overhaul of the nation’s security architecture, particularly in the military, Nwosu tasked him on better governance.