The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-cultural Association has alleged that political actors are behind the persistent crisis in Plateau State.
The group said herders have no hand in the crisis in the state, which had resulted in several killings.
The National Secretary of the Association, Saleh Alhassan, made the allegation on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, where he addressed issues of national security and herder-farmer relations.
Alhassan dismissed the widespread narrative that foreign herders are responsible for recent killings across the Middle Belt, describing it as both “misleading”; and “politically motivated”;.
“The notion and narrative of foreign herders is a distraction. It is a continuation of efforts to deny Nigerian herders their citizenship and a major challenge to achieving peace, especially concerning the farmers-herders conflict,”; he said.
Alhassan, speaking specifically on the Plateau crisis, described the situation as highly politicised.
“I schooled and grew up in Plateau, so I know the root causes of these crises. The recent conflict in Bokkos, for instance, started over a motorcycle theft, not grazing or land use. But suddenly, every conflict is labelled a farmer-herder clash,”; he said.
He also frowned at what he described as the use of ethnic militias disguised as vigilantes, stating that peaceful herders are often left with no choice but to resort to self-defence.
The MACBAN secretary accused some politicians of weaponizing the insecurity for personal gain and insisted that criminality must be addressed directly and without ethnic bias.
