FULANI GROUP SEEKS AMNESTY FOR VICTIMS OF FARMERS/ HERDERS CLASHES

A Fulani Socio-Cultural Group under the auspices of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) is seeking President Muhammadu Buhari led APC Federal Government to urgently and responsively fast track the granting of a comprehensive amnesty programme to all the victims of farmers/herders crisis.

It observed that the sad experience of the crises has negatively reduced the pastoralists to unwilling and circumstantial criminals as a result of losses of their entire source of livelihood and survival.

The urgent and necessary call by the group is contained in a communique issued following its national delegates meeting held at the Sultan Bello Mosque conference Hall in Kaduna.

The communique signed by three Principal Executives of the group which include Alhaji Sale Bayari, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi and Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu as the national chairman, national secretary and zonal national vice chairman, South West also identified the gross negligence by the three tiers of Government of over 15 million members of the herders community in the country.

The trio further pointed out that the negative development has since resulted in many loss of lives and billions of naira, as well as the abandonment of a great segment of the herdsmen and their means of livelihood.

“It is unfortunate that the government has failed to address problems like cattle rustling and kidnapping, that have led to the near national collapse of the animal husbandry or national livestock industry in the country.

” This condition has given birth to restiveness, hopelessness, joblessness, confusion and a state of anomie where nobody knows what is right from wrong. Such situation has led to many unconstitutional enactments and passing into law of draconian, inhuman, restrictive, segregation and divisive anti-grazing laws that have banned otherwise legitimate and lawful means of livelihood of herdsmen.

” Total bewilderment of lack of any redemptive or palliative support for the herdsmen as fellow Nigerians by the federal government despite the huge losses with rough estimates of about 2500 human lives and about 3.7 million cattle without any compensation or subsidy.”

The group also lamented on the failure of the Government to provide assistance to the herders as was being extended to others in the agricultural and allied sectors like crop farmers and many others, through Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, (FMARD), Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the presidency.

” It is evident that the sum of about 84b naira for subsidy on rice farmers and another 60b naira for rice flood disaster victims under the Chairmanship of Mr President were dole out to these groups respectively”, The