The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) on Friday, called Nigerians to stand up, defend themselves and territories against killers and bandits terrorizing the country, saying the days of lamentation are over.

The SMBLF said the strong call for Nigerians to rise up and defend their lives and territories became necessary following the ongoing attacks by suspected Fulani militias across various parts of the country.

The forum In a statement signed by its leaders specifically condemned the recent massacres in Plateau and Benue states, and declared that the time for mourning has passed, calling for necessary action from Nigerians.

In the statement signed by leaders of the Pan Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, the Middle Belt Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), urged Nigerians to take their destinies into their own hands severally and jointly.

They described the violence perpetrated by the bandits as “a coordinated and unrelenting genocidal massacre” aimed at wiping out communities across Nigeria, noting that more than 50 Irigwe ethnic citizens in Plateau State, while over 80 innocent lives were in Bokkos Local government area few days last Sunday.

The forum in the statement signed by Oba Oladipo Olaitan for Afenifere, Dr. Bitrus Pogu for the Middle Belt Forum, Senator John Azuta-Mbata for Ohanaeze Ndigbo World-Wide and Amb. God knows Igali for PANDEF criticized the federal government for its inaction.

They criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s failure to give directives to security agencies to pursue and bring the perpetrators to books, nothing the violence has continued unabated.

They frowned over the recent threats issued by a group known as the “Coalition of Registered Fulani Organizations” in Plateau, demanding the removal of military commanders- a demand that went unheeded by the government.

“Just days after these threats, as the condition was not met and knowing that the Presidential order was of no moment, the Bassa massacre occurred just as terror with sorrow tears and blood were unleashed on parts of Benue state by the same Fulani militias”

They stated that “The Nigerian state has effectively surrendered its sovereignty to the lawless militias.

“The security forces, once respected internationally, are overstretched and unable to protect citizens. Meanwhile, proposals for a state police force and other reforms have been rejected.”

The SMBLF however called for immediate legislative action in support of state policing and the end of open grazing, which they believe has exacerbated the violence, calling on Nigerian governors to establish local security measures capable of combating terrorism.

The forum concluded by urging Nigerians to stop mourning and instead take decisive action. “Organize according to your cultural and indigenous ways of community defense,” they urged, adding that all acts of self-defense are lawful in the face of the state’s failure to protect citizens.

They noted that “these terrorist killings wiping out entire families and villages hypocritically branded “farmers/herders clash” on the farmers’ land have become such commonplace that officials of the Nigerian state on each occurrence only indulge in comparative statistical analysis of the number of lives lost.

“The only crime of our people is being Nigerians with their ancestral land and its reach resources on which they live peacefully”

“While we may acknowledge that many Nigerians of Fulani origin may not support these heinous crimes perpetuated by their kinsmen from all over the West African sub-region the continued silence of their prominent leaders is suggestive of complicity in a clear Fulanisation agenda of Nigeria.

“It has become undeniable that Nigeria is under siege by these well-coordinated, well-armed Fulani militias bringing with them kidnapping, murder, and chaos. Their activities are no longer random acts of violence; they are part of a deliberate strategy of territorial expansion and ethnic cleansing.

“In every community attacked, the Fulani militias not only destroy but also settle on the lands often without resistance from the very security forces deployed to protect citizens.

“All the Federal Government does is condone these modern-day territorial conquests while the land owners are packed in camps of Internally Displaced Persons as rescued slaves with no hopes of returning home.

“It is undeniable that the Nigerian state has surrendered its sovereignty and territory to the wanton violation by an ethnic nationality which members are acclaimed to have no respect for the territorial boundary and integrity of modern nation-states.

“All proposals and resolutions by well-meaning Nigerians which have even enjoyed national consensus for the security of life and property including end to open grazing, the establishment of State Police, restructuring and true federalism have been rejected by the Federal Government.

“SMBLF notes that even the salutary Amotekun Security Initiative by the South West States is being deliberately rendered impotent by a timid and complicit Nigerian state which continues to deny the outfit the necessary capacity to confront terrorism.

“As leaders SMBLF can no longer remain in a state of lamentation and idle mourning while our people are in their numbers butchered in cold blood. The soil of our homelands has drunk enough of our own blood.

“As a minimum demand, we call on the political representatives of our people particularly at the National and State Assemblies for legislations in support of State Police and immediate end to open grazing without prejudice to the Governors immediately putting in place security structures with capacity to withstand terror in our respective states.

“To the people: Rise, stop mourning and lamentation; organize according to your respective cultural and Indigenous ways of community defence, seek necessary capacity wherever possible and available.

“If our people were not conquered before Nigeria, we will not allow Nigeria to subject us to destruction and slavery. Take back every inch of your land now.

“In the face of the failure of the Nigerian state to protect you, all acts and weapons in self-defence are lawful and legitimate. Together, we will resist. Together, we will defend. Together, we will survive. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” the statement stated. (Nigerian Tribune)

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