Bitrus Pogu, the National Chairman of the Middle Belt Forum, says the clash between farmers and herders is considered differently in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria.
Pogu, while speaking on ChannelsTV on Monday night, said the clash was about armed Fulani militia attacking farmers.
“Within the Middle Belt Forum, we don’t believe that there is anything called ‘farmer-herder clashes’ with what is happening now. In the past in Nigeria, we have had farmers clashing with herders over encroachment of farmlands.
“Poor farmers are attacked without provocation, and the attackers don’t come with cows. These people come as armed men – Fulani armed militia – and attack farmers. To us, they are just terrorists who have come to terrorize our people with one view: displacement of the people and taking over their lands,” he alleged.
Pogu said further, “The issue in the Middle Belt is – as far as we are concerned – aimed at dispossessing our people (and chase them away) from their ancestral lands and hand them over to Fulani, changing demography for political reasons.”
He also accused President Mohammadu Buhari of failing to quash the Boko Haram insurgency.
“The security situation has even worsened if we look at the general overview. APC came into power in 2015 with the promise that Boko Haram would be a forgone story. Today, it’s a different ball game. On and on we find Boko Haram running over our military formations, taking our military equipment away.
“I believe if the government has the will, these girls (Chibok) will be released. Five years have gone by, some of these (Chibok) girls would have graduated if they had continued schooling. Unfortunately, they are still kept in Boko Haram’s custody. We believe the government can do better, let’s forget about the politics and do what is needful,” he said.
SR
