No Fulani vigilante in Igbo land – Ohanaeze vows

Apex Igbo sociocultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has vowed to resist any attempt to form a Fulani vigilante group in Igbo land.

Ohanaeze President-General, Dr. Nnia Nwodo who said this in a statement at the weekend, noted that the group would not allow anything that could further compound the security situation in the zone.

Nwodo said it was ridiculous for anyone to suggest such idea, given that the Fulani herdsmen have ravaged farms and raped women in Igbo land.

“These are people who have ravaged our farms, raped our women and slaughtered their husbands. As at today they technically enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution,” he said.

“They freely display AK47 rifles not permitted to be used by civilians. Extending this measure to them will turn them into an army of occupation and invite unavoidable confrontations with our youths. We will resist such a policy with every might available to us.”

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) had few days ago, asked for the establishment of Fulani vigilante group in the South East, triggering angry reactions.

National President of MACBAN, Mohammadu Kirowa, had at a security summit in Enugu requested the establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante in the zone to work with security agencies. He noted that herdsmen in the region had been having difficulties doing their business following clashes with farmers.

Various groups, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have also spoken out against the demand.

insisted that the suggestion was part of the plot to forcefully Islamise the country.

Leader of the IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu had in a statement, said it was a shocking demand.

“It is extremely shocking and shameful that at a time when Fulani cattle herders have turned to terrorists and are ravaging the North, Middle Belt and Yorubaland, Southeast governors allowed Miyetti Allah to get away with such criminal demand on our soil,” Kanu said.

“Miyetti Allah, a mere cattle trading association, is now openly threatening to conquer Igboland with the help of Igbo governors. It defies logic that Southeast governors would care to give audience in the open in Igboland to an organisation that has been rated the fourth deadliest terrorist organisation in the world.

“Did the South East governors stop to consider that Biafran traders in the far North, even though law abiding, can never be given the audience and reverence that these Southeast governors have so shamefully extended to Miyetti Allah?” he queried.