We’ll no longer tolerate attack on the North –Northern Group

 Wants FG to declare state of emergency in Taraba, Kaduna, Benue, Zamfara

A coalition of Northern Group has warned that any further attack on the North by any section in Nigeria will be met with vicious reaction even as they warned against any attempts to rewrite the history of the North to suit certain agenda that tend to portray the North, the Hausa/ Fulani and Muslims in bad light and render them as the culprit and the guilty entity.

Addressing the media on Tuesday in Abuja, the coalition reeled out several other demands which must be met before peace can return to Nigeria which also include proscription of all religious groups, political parties or ethnic and tribal organizations that make the habit of undermining Nigeria’s peace, security, and peaceful coexistence through unguarded utterances and deliberate actions aimed at fomenting unrest and engendering inter-religious and inter-communal conflicts.

According to Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, who is the spokesman of the groups, the North will no longer remain passive under such deliberate and sustained attacks on its unity, integrity and dignity, and will henceforth be forced to react to every provocation and unwarranted interference in its affairs.”The detractors coming from outside the North to foment trouble and escalate tension among our people should be warned that their actions will not go unnoticed and in the fullness of time, they will be held accountable for their instigation to violence and killings of innocent people on both sides involved in the herders and farmers conflicts.

“Individuals associated with such groups or organizations that incite others to violations must be decisively dealt with. In that regard, we remind government of our earlier patriotic advice for the enactment of appropriate laws to deal with all manifestations of hate speech from any quarter.”All those who have no other useful vocation other than attacking northerners under the slightest of pretexts, should know that our patience has reached its nadir.”
They called on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency in the front line states of Taraba, Kaduna, Benue and Zamfara and also suspend the current political structures in those states and replace them with sole administrators until conditions improve.

The Northern groups also demand the proclamation of a National Policy on Grazing and Livestock Development (NPGLD) to cater for the needs of all the pastoral communities everywhere in the country.According to him, the targeting of the entire Fulani and by extension, Muslims, for vilification, systematic dehumanization, profiling, alienation or any action that will render them object of attack and persecution is not only immoral and illegal, but also abhorrent to the sensibilities and ordinary decency and therefore unacceptable.”We call on the Federal Government to take immediate steps to disband all militias and armed groups in Nigeria by resort to the use of force if needs be, to ensure that no group has the capacity to challenge the State in its prerogative to maintain law and order, and protect citizens’ lives and properties. With regards to the crises in the North, government should take further steps to ensure that both farmers and herdsmen are given adequate protection by state agencies.

“We demand that an exact list of all those who were killed be published and the identity of the perpetrators made known. Compensation to those who lost their properties should thereafter be paid by sanctioning those who are guilty of the crimes.”We call on the Federal Government to reconsider its current decision not to interfere with state laws on land use. Contextually, we see this decision as a veiled affirmation of the injurious and vindictive anti-grazing laws that are not just in conflict with the supremacy of our Constitution, but also repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience.

“We ask that the presidency, northern federal legislators and northern governors show more zeal and effort at protecting the lives and property of pastoral communities everywhere, and ensuring their right to free movement is not impeded by any legislation or obstacle imposed by a state or a community.”The group also want the Federal and State Governments in the North to deal decisively with the threat of drug and substance abuse across Nigeria and in the North in particular.

“We reiterate that this trend is fueled to a large extent by outside interests that aim to dislocate the social cohesion of the North, and create a class of aimless and dehumanized individuals who will forever remain a burden on the society. This should therefore be treated as an existential threat to the future and hopes of our country and the North in particular, that are reposed in our youth.”The Federal and State Governments must immediately identify suitable lands across the country and create grazing reserves and cattle routes, and where resistance is shown, to expropriate such land as may be required for the purpose through resort to extant provisions of the Land Use Act and other related laws.”

They called for the immediate setting up of a National Pastoralist Commission (NPC) to act on all matters affecting the wellbeing and interests of all citizens whose livelihoods depend on livestock rearing.”Successive governments have found it expeditious to establish structures like OMPADEC, NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta, the Amnesty Programme, etc aimed at resolving a specific set of challenges affecting specific communities in the South. There is therefore no justification whatsoever to resist or even question the creation of special initiatives to address the needs of herdsmen if these will lead to lasting peace and stability.

“We call for the immediate proclamation of a Special Intervention Initiative through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministries of Finance, National Planning, Agriculture and Water Resources, for supporting special livestock development policies and the establishment of special funds to support pastoral communities along the lines of the Anchor Borrowers Programme and other types of Federal Government interventions.”

“We demand the immediate withdrawal of the quit orders separately issued to the Fulani in the South East by Ohanaeze, and to the Northern communities in Delta state by the state government. The South East governors, political and cultural leaders and their elders would be held responsible if any harm comes to northerners or their properties as a result. And restitution must be made where the pastoral communities are made to suffer losses as a result of the deliberate actions of perpetrators of crimes against them.”The northern coalition however reminded the elected representatives at all levels that their neglect to stand up and speak out for the truth in this circumstance will definitely form part of the burdens they would have to carry to the 2019 polls.

“To President Buhari in particular, we urge a more judicious approach to this matter keeping in mind that preference for electoral victory to government’s primary duty of protecting the lives of all citizens may not pay. We remind him, with due respect, of the risk of losing both ways as his new friends in the East would typically desert him when the chips are down. And the North which cast the winning votes for him in 2015 would definitely opt to look a different way if he fails to take a decisive and definite stand on the current gang-up against a targeted section of Nigerian citizens.”

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