The Northern Elders Forum and the Coalition of the Northern Groups have asked Fulani herdsmen to leave the southern part of Nigeria.
The northern elders and the youths said they were worried that some southern leaders had allegedly openly threatened war against the Fulani herdsmen, therefore the need for them (herdsmen) to return to the North where their safety and that of their property could be guaranteed.
This is coming on the heels of recent allegations of killings and kidnappings levelled against Fulani Herdsmen as a result of the suspension of the RUGA scheme initiated by the Federal Government, after it was rejected by Southern leaders.
The southern leaders had argued that it was wrong for the Federal Government to take people’s land by force and give it to herdsmen who were operating personal businesses.
However, at a press conference after a meeting of the NEF with the CNGs on Tuesday in Abuja, where the youths demanded the return of all the Fulani herders to the North, the NEF’s chairman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, also backed the youth’s position.
However, Abdullahi said the call on the herders to retrun to the North was borne out of the alleged realisation that their lives had allegedly been put at risk due to the recent actions and utterances of the southern governors.
Abdullahi said, “We are worried about their well-being. If it is true that their safety can no longer be guaranteed, we rather have them back in areas where their safety is guaranteed.
