An elder statesman, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the extrajudicial killing of Fulani in South West to save Nigeria from disintegration.
Tofa spoke on Tuesday, hours after a fresh attack on a Fulani community in Ogun State that led to the killing of a herdsman and the burning of a settlement and a market.
There was similar incident in Oyo State few days ago where Fulani settlements were destroyed and the herders sacked at the instance of a self-acclaimed Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho.
The recent attacks in the South West took place not long after a meeting of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) in Akure, Ondo State, where some far-reaching decisions were taken, including stoppage of hostilities, registration of herders and banning of night grazing to stem insecurity.
While some observers hailed the method adopted by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo who called stakeholders meeting ahead of the NGF parley, they expressed reservations over the attitude of Oyo and Ogun governors who reportedly allowed Igboho to attack the Fulani.
Tofa, who was the presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), said it would be a futile attempt to stop lawlessness when youths from the North take arms against people from other regions.
The elder statesman also took a swipe at some South West leaders, who he said looked the other way while some purported “freedom fighters” kept beating the drum of war, issuing eviction orders, attacking and maiming the Fulani.
In a message tagged ‘Statement of Serious Concern’, Tofa described attacks on Fulani in South West as “unacceptable.”
According to him, “The mayhem we see, almost every day now, of killings and maiming of people of Northern extraction, including especially, the Fulani, in some other parts of the country, is unacceptable.
“There is a nefarious plan by the enemies of this potentially great country to initiate a violent crisis that may lead to its destruction.
“Tension is beginning to brew, and if revenge attacks on Southerners begin here in the North, it will be difficult to control. Our enemies from within and outside, some well-known by our security agencies, are more determined than ever to set us against each other, so that we may get to a point of no return when the conflagration began.
“There is no part of this country that is at peace. Local and neighbouring, including foreign terrorist, are busy, fully armed, to cause whatever damage they can inflict on our dear country.
“I, therefore, call on the president to take this insecurity and the tribal lynching happening very seriously and put up urgent measures to deal with them without any more delays. I am sure, there is a concern at the Presidency and discussions are being held. But, urgent and decisive action is now necessary.
“If any Nigerian will not be allowed to live freely and conduct their lives and businesses in any part of the country without being disturbed or molested or even killed, then no one should be allowed to settle and prosper anywhere else.
“If that were to be the case, then, we have no country. That is how serious it is. And that is what our enemies desire. We must not allow them by our inaction,”
On continued eviction orders against Fulani by Igboho, and the apparent silence of some governors, Tofa said, “Those foolish leaders and their stupid hirelings who encourage the expulsion of other Nigerians from their states should remember that their people also live in other parts. They must stop, or the law should stop them by all means necessary.”
