The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has condemned what it describes as the growing hostility and maltreatment of northerners in southern Nigeria.
Chairman of the ACF Board of Trustees, BoT, Alhaji Bashir M. Dalhatu, Wazirin Dutse, expressed this concern during his opening remarks at the forum’s meeting held at the ACF Headquarters, Kaduna, on 30 April 2025.
According to him, “While on the subject of violence and killings, we must review and condemn in the strongest possible terms, the growing hostility and attacks against northerners that choose to live or pursue livelihoods in the southern states of Nigeria.”;
He stated that even innocent northerners merely travelling through southern states are being killed or subjected to inhumane treatment—an ongoing tragedy that successive administrations in the country have sadly failed to halt.
He noted that the maltreatment and attacks on northerners in the south are particularly ironic and painful because, for centuries, the North has kept its doors open and has warmly welcomed people from all parts of Nigeria, guided by a tradition of boundless hospitality and a spirit of brotherhood.
It is, therefore, deeply regrettable, he said, that southerners have failed to reciprocate this noble gesture from the North. He added that, in many parts of the South—especially in the Southeast—a northerner cannot expect to acquire even a square foot of land, let alone own any significant landed property.
According to him, the time has come for governors and legislators in the northern states to implement a comprehensive reform of the system of land ownership and control.
“The need for this reform is self-evident, especially given the current mad scramble for land in the North by foreigners. Authorities in the North must ensure that northerners do not become landless in their own territory,”; he said.
