Maduako Igbokwe I Monday, July 17, 2023
AWKA, Anambra, Nigeria – Founder and Senior Pastor of the Bible Base Miracle Assembly, Nkpor Agu, Idemili North local government area of Anambra state, Pastor Jerry Nwachukwu, has called on Nigerians to reject recent demand by Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to set-up vigilante outfit in 36 states of the Nigerian federation.
The MACBAN, in a recent broadcast, came up with the opinion of setting up vigilante outfits in various states as a way of cooperating with security agencies to flush out criminals attacking herdsmen in the bush.
The request came barely a month after the group had announced the sudden disappearance of its National Vice President, Engr Munnir Atuku Lamido, who they said left his Katsina residence on June 23, 2023, and has not returned.
But in a sermon in his church headquarters in Nkpor Agu, Anambra state, on Sunday, July 16, Pastor Nwachukwu called on Nigerians to rise up against such move, saying that the demand is a subtle way of re-introducing the Rural Grazing Areas (RUGA) Bill rejected under President Mohammadu Buhari.
He said, allowing Fulani herdsmen in the name of MACBAN to form vigilante groups in Nigeria’s rural communities is unacceptable. “It is another way of re-introducing the previously rejected RUGA Bill. They want to re-introduce RUGA systematically.
“In the Southwest, they have Amotekun; in the Southeast, they have Ebube-Agu as their respective security outfits. So, others should have security outfits peculiar to them. For me, Fulani should have their own security outfit where they have their own lands and cattle.”
Nwachukwu further warned Southeast stakeholders, especially traditional rulers, town union leaders and the political leadership against allowing Fulani herdsmen to set-up security outfits in their domains. He also asked Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to stand up against it, and also urged the National Assembly to reject the move.
The cleric, who claimed that the demand might be another move to Islamize the entire Nigeria, contended that if the move for the herders to introduce vigilante in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), what is currently happening in Benue and Plateau States, in terms of herders/farmers clash will spread all over the country.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us – it is our common patrimony. Fulani is just part of over 200 ethnic nationalities. So, they must not be allowed to trample on our sensibilities as a people,” he concluded.
