Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has claimed that their members suffer more bandits attacks than people think.
The association was reacting to allegations by Plateau State-based cleric, Prophet Isa El-Buba.
El-Buba, just like many other Nigerians accused Fulani herders of being behind the incessant attacks and insecurity in the state.
According to him, more than 80 percent of genocidal attacks carried out in Plateau State are being perpetrated by Fulani militias who are members of the Miyetti Allah Association.
He also dismissed the farmer-herder link to the killings.
But in a statement on Saturday, National President of MACBAN, Baba Othman-Ngelzarma, countered the cleric.
He declared that Fulani pastoralists are not criminals but victims of banditry and insecurity in the state and the country in general.
Othman-Ngelzarma noted that contrary to what many Nigerians are made to believe, the Fulani herders are made to bear the brunt of such attacks as they are profiled by both natives and security operatives and suffer from attacks unleashed on them.
The MACBAN President further stated that the situation is so bad that every bandit attack in the state is attributed to the Fulani herders, who are being overrepresented in violent conflicts, which makes them easy targets and are killed daily. At the same time, their cattle are rustled by their attackers.
He advised El-Buba and the Plateau people against seeing all Fulani pastoralists as criminals, as they remain the most vulnerable group because they live in forests with their families and depend solely on cattle for survival, making them easy targets for bandits, rustlers, and kidnappers.
He concluded by saying that until justice is done to the affected herders, there will never be a solution for peace in the state.
NATIONAL POST recalls that most of the killings and kidnappings in several rural communities are often linked to Fulani herdsmen.
However, Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo recently absolved the herders, blaming the crime in the South-East on the Igbos themselves.
