An interest group in the middle-belt area of Nigeria has heaped criticisms on northern governors who have spoken in support of the marauding Fulani herdsmen across Nigeria.
A pan-Idoma group, the Opiatoha K’Idoma has faulted the position of the Northern governors on the activities of Fulani herdsmen in parts of the country, saying that the governors tended to exonerate the herdsmen from the recent massacre of hundreds of persons in Agatu local government area of Benue State.
The group cautioned that statements on a sensitive issue like the mindless killing of innocent Nigerians by the herdsmen should be handled with utmost care not to aggravate the already tense situation in parts of the country.
Speaking to Vanguard in Makurdi, the Secretary General of the group, Chief Adoka Adaji maintained that the herdsmen, who masterminded the mass killings were criminals and should be treated as such.
According to him, ”anyone or group of persons who engage in the wanton destruction of lives and properties of innocent and defenceless Nigerians like the Fulani herdsmen are at present perpetrating across the country, ought to be treated as criminals.
“You don’t visit the home of another and unleash mayhem on the people.
“Fulani herdsmen cannot be defended or exonerated in this matter. Anybody exonerating them of the mass killings that we are all witnessing in parts of the country is not helping the situation.”
“This is not the time to apportion blames even though the herdsmen are also trying to put up a defense, we must all, as a matter of priority, seek for ways of bring the crisis to an end before it snowballs into something else.
“Though the Benue state Acting Governor, Benson Abounu has come out to debunk claims that the Northern Governors in their last meeting tried to shield the herdsmen from blame we urge the federal government to take decisive steps to end these killings”.