Herdsmen attacks: Benue lawmaker seeks Sultan’s intervention

The lawmaker representing Buruku Federal Constituency, Benue State, Honourable Orker Jev, has appealed to the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, to extend his peace campaign to Benue, Nasarawa states and other parts of the country affected by the Fulani herdsmen/farmers’ crisis.

The lawmaker, during an interview in Abuja, on Friday, said the Sultan was a renowned and respected peace campaigner in the country, especially in the North and thus it had become imperative for him to intervene in the situation.

He said the people of Benue State had lived peacefully with the Fulanis for several years, but expressed surprise why the latter suddenly started attacks on their host.

“The Sultan has been making proclamations about wanting peace of the North and the country. If those are not mere proclamations, I think this is the time to stand up to be counted as somebody who wants peace.

“He is a Fulani man. He has a lot of influence in the North, even beyond. Let him sit together with his kiths and kins and find ways, because you cannot always have your way at the expense of peace in this country.

“What is happening is not just in Benue, but it is threatening the peace of the country because today it is in Benue, tomorrow it could be Enugu and next could be Ekiti and so on. So, the Sultan of Sokoto and other prominent Nigerians associated with the Miyetti Allah have a responsibility to sit and fashion best way as long as this issue is concerned,” he said.

Describing the recent attack as the deadliest, he explained that interventions from prominent northern leaders and meeting the aggrieved herdsmen would go a long way to restoring peaceful coexistence across the nation.

Jev, who is the House Committee Chairman on Rules and Businesses, condemned tagging of the persistent attacks as a communal clash, noting that the Miyetti Allah had repeatedly held media briefings warning of plans to converge in Benue to resist the anti-open grazing law.

He alleged that there were security information prior to the recent attack which led to the killings of the over 70 victims who were attacked late at night in their sleep in some communities in Benue State.

“I hate it when it is called clashes. You come most times in the dead of the night to attack them and run back and you talk about clashes. Who is clashing with whom? These are not people who reside in the environment. The word, clashes, itself gives me a lot of offence,” he said.

According to him, it behooved on President Muhammadu Buhari to take drastic decision, as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, by ensuring the establishment of military base in the state as a good measure to providing sustainable solution against the persistent killings.

Jev said during a meeting with the governors of Kaduna and Kano states, Nasir el Rufai and Ganduje respectively, the duo maintained that the herdsmen were not indigenous Fulanis residing in the country, adding that they migrated into the country.

“If you have foreigners, just because they share cultural or tribal affinities with Nigerians and you look the other way, I think we have more serious problem on our hand than we are prepared to admit and that is why anytime I have the opportunity to talk, I will say the president is not sincere in resolving this matter,” he said.