The National Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani socio-cultural association, Engr. Saleh Alhassan has said on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, “Sunrise Daily” on Thursday, that the only thing “close to genocide” in the country is the “genocide against Fulani pastoralists” over the last 25 years.

“If we must be honest in this country, if there is anything close to genocide in Nigeria, it’s genocide against the Fulani pastoralists in the last 25 years across the country – from Plateau to Benue to Zamfara to Kebbi State. Pastoralists have been deliberately targeted, killed, displaced, and some state governors even enacted laws that criminalised pastoralism.”

During the programme, Alhassan said ongoing media narratives are “very unfortunate,” insisting that Fulani pastoral communities have been repeatedly targeted, killed, displaced, and criminalised in several states.

“As an organisation that has been campaigning for peace, we are in support of all government efforts to ensure sustainable peace across the country,” he stated.

Alhassan criticised individuals and groups he described as “genocide town criers,” accusing them of seeking international attention and foreign aid.

He cited the case of a bishop who took reports of violence in Benue to the United States, saying, “What he is looking for is foreign aid. He failed to contextualise the actual conflict.”

He questioned why Nigerian institutions were being bypassed, noting that the National Human Rights Commission and the Senate are available for engagement.

“The Senate invited organisations to present memoranda on how to solve the farmer-herder crisis. Up till now, we have not been invited by the Senate to discuss that memorandum,” he added.

He alleged that since former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent comments, pastoralists have suffered intensified attacks.

“In the last three weeks, pastoralists have been devastated in Kebbi State. They have been attacked in Niger State, in Benue State. It is the locals who attacked the citizens. Pastoralists were destroyed and not a single word from the security agencies, not even the media,” he said.

“We have attacks on pastoralists in Kebbi State no action was taken. Attacks on pastoralists in Niger State; no action was taken. Attack on pastoralists in Benue State, Ohimini Local Government, precisely, for crimes they have not committed.”

Alhassan argued that pastoralists are often wrongly blamed for violence.

“If there are conflicts in Benue, you accuse the pastoralist. After investigation, you will discover that even the locals are responsible for it.”

He called for a holistic security approach to identify all perpetrators of violence, but maintained that portraying herders as killers is false.

“Yes, we can have some of the herders involved in the conflict, but the way the conflict is being viewed as if the pastoralists are out there to kill and destroy people, that is not the truth. That is not the narrative,” he said.

His comments come at a time when the region is grappling with heightened security threats – ranging from banditry and kidnapping to farmer-herder conflicts and disruptions to economic activities.

No fewer than 350 people have been abducted by terrorists, with at least seven people killed in the last two weeks during attacks in the region.

Notable among such attacks are the invasion of schools in Kebbi and Niger, which led to the abduction of over 300 school children and teachers. In Kwara, 38 worshippers were kidnapped during an attack by gunmen at a Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku that left at least three people dead.

On Sunday, gunmen attacked a church in Kogi State, kidnapping a pastor and his wife. The attack on the newly established Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area, occurred during service.

A bride-to-be and her bridesmaids were reportedly abducted by suspected bandits in a fresh attack on Chacho village in Wurno Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

On Monday, the Ojibara of Bayagan in Ifelodun local government area of Kwara state, Alh Kamilu Salami, and six others reportedly escaped from the grip of bandits, who had earlier demanded ₦150 million from the community before the traditional ruler could be freed. (Channels Tv)