NIGERIA. Abuja: Approximately 10,000 Fulani clerics have been slaughtered since 2015, with almost two million others reportedly uprooted from their ancestral villages.
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), which represents all Fulani herders in Nigeria, made this known.
MACBAN, which made this known in Abuja through a communique issued at the conclusion of the association’s interactive policy dialogue and cultural festival with the theme “The future of Fulani pastoralists in Nigeria,” noted that the Fulani ethnic group has suffered the most as a result of the country’s persistent insecurity.
Baba Othman Ngelzarma, MACBAN’s National Secretary, blamed the issue on banditry, kidnapping, and castle rustling, adding that around four million cattle had been rustled.
“Stereotyping and stigmatisation of Fulani herders, and the incendiary role of social and the mainstream media, leading to ethnic profiling, are a prelude to genocide,” Ngelzarma added.
The operations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Eastern Security Network (ESN) from the South-East area, and other local vigilante organisations, according to MACBAN, have made life unpleasant for the country’s herdsmen.
“Therefore, the government, as well as individuals and non-governmental organizations, should support and prioritize the education of pastoralists and rural communities,” the communiqué further stated.
