Evritinnaija

One person has confirmed dead, several houses razed and others missing after Fulani herdsmen and farmers clashed in Okpokwu LGA of Benue State. Evritinnaija : gathered that the incident happened in Ingle Odidi community. It was gathered that some unknown persons launched attack on the herdsmen, apparently in reprisals of the recent killing of over 73 persons in Guma and Logo LGA of the state, killing one person, 11 cows and burning down 16 huts belonging the herders. The development triggered anger among the herdsmen, who went on rampage, shooting sporadically. Many residents of the area have fled their homes for fear of being attacked by the cattle breeders. Confirming the incident, the Benue State Police PRO, Moses Yamu, said one person lost his life while 11 cows and 16 huts were razed during the clash. He said the police command had a meeting with traditional rulers and the herdsmen in Otukpo on Thursday with the aim of finding panacea to the nagging crises between herd

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the application by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) challenging its proscription by the court as a territory organisation. The acting chief judge, Justice Abdul Kafarati on Thursday, held that the application was properly brought before the court as an exparte motion by the Attorney-General. He also ruled that the rights of fair hearing and freedom of association of IPOB was not abused because all that was needed for such an application to be heard was the approval of the president which was properly gotten. Subsequently, Justice Kafarati asked the secessionist group to pay the Attorney-General a fine of N500 only. Counsel to IPOB, Mr ifeanyi Ejiofor, however, argued that the ruling will be challenged at the Appeal Court. The Federal Government had in a chamber seating obtained a proscription order against IPOB declaring it a terrorist organisation after an altercation between the Nigerian Army and members of IPOB led by Mr

Former IT consultant cum politician, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye has just shared a lenghty piece on Facebook in defence of President Buhari concerning the Fulani herdsmen menace. According to him, 'the perverted narrative is simply orchestrated by the opposition and political enemies of Buhari to say because he is a fulani man he is silent and allow Fulani's to kill innocent Tivs, this is most unfortunate'. Read his full piece below... It is no longer news that our media has been infiltrated and polluted by technology mixed with psycho- social dynamism called social media, everyone that has a phone today is a reporter and everyone that can schorlaly put an essay together becomes a writer, this has brought in so much confusion into our National information management and public communication, this same confusion has gotten our official information managers frustrated, since this government doesn't appear to be able to match even opposition in the area of investment In in

The war, when it begins, will be like all wars, senseless, destructive and lamentable. No one knows when and where it will begin, but it will begin as a convulsive reprisal for a massacre by Fulani herdsmen, a phenomenon that has now assumed all but a common occurrence in Nigeria. The scale and frequency of massacres by Fulani herdsmen with not a single prosecution is the clearest evidence of what is known as impunity. Impunity is the reason the coming war is inescapable. What can Nigeria be without the Fulanis? They are royalty. Among them are some of the most respected Nigerians, wise, reasonable, kind people. They control the Sokoto Caliphate or all that is left of that awesome empire. They exercise power at the Federal level over and beyond any other ethnic group in Nigeria. Indeed they are the architects of the Northern hegemony which they elevated to an ideology, a most potent instrument to hold on to power since Independence. As the greatest beneficiaries of the Fulani J

ABUJA—The Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati, will today deliver judgment in the suit seeking to void the proscription and declaration of Indegeniuos People of Biafra, IPOB, as a terrorist organisation. POB members IPOB, through its lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had approached the court challenging the ruling it delivered on September 20, 2017, which outlawed it on the strength of an ex-parte motion the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami,  SAN,   filed on behalf of the government. The court had in the said ruling, declared as illegal, all activities of IPOB, particularly in the South-East and South-South regions of the country. The Acting CJ, who gave the ruling in chambers, further restrained “any person or group of persons from participating in any of the group’s activities.” He directed the AGF to ensure that he published the order proscribing IPOB in the official gazette, as well as in two

The governor and people of Benue State have received a swell of support from sympathetic Southern and Middle Belt leaders as controversy over the state’s anti-open grazing law rages. Leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Niger Delta and the Middle Belt on Wednesday assured the government and people of the state that they were solidly behind them and would support them should the need arise. The groups, which formed what will henceforth be known as the Southern-Middle Belt Forum, also made a call for the replication of the anti-open grazing law in all the states of the federation. This happened when the groups visited Samuel Ortom, the Benue State governor, to condole with him over 75 persons that lost their lives in the state this year as a result of herdsmen attacks. Various speakers and opinions leaders from the groups who spoke at the occasion registered their support for Benue. Former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, called for the adoption of the anti-op

The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide met and discussed extensively the recent killing by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria and resolved as follows : (1) That The activities of Fulani herdsmen and the Benue massacre is unfortunate and can cause another avoidable tension in the country especially now the elections of 2019 is around the corner, we condemned vehemently the terrorist attack of the Fulani herdsmen and call for self defense as a measure to halt it (2) Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council worldwide have banned and Proscribed the outlawed Fulani herdsmen in Igboland especially in the 95lgs of South East and call on the Youths not to take laws into their hands but want the federal government to declare them a terrorist group (3) We hail the Peoples Governor of Abia Dr Okezie Ikpeazu  and the heroic stand of Governor of Anambra Willie Obiano for rejecting the Cattle colonies in Abia and Anambra states, We know other Igbo Governors will follow the footsteps of their

Prof. Umar Labdo Muhammad of the Faculty of Humanities, Northwest University, Kano claims that Benue State belongs to the Fulani by right of conquest. Read below: Benue State belongs to the Fulani people by right of conquest. This is because half of the state is part of the Bauchi Emirate and the other half is part of the Adamawa Emirate. Benue is therefore part and parcel of the Sokoto Caliphate. So no one has the right to expel the Fulani from Benue under any guise. Second to the Arabs, perhaps the Fulani are the most benevolent and merciful conquerors in history. If they had applied the Nazi final solution to the natives, or if they had treated them the same way the European settlers treated Red Indians in North America or the Aborigines in Australia, the story would have been different today. We bring the news to you as it comes.....

A Nigerian senator has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare the Fulani herdsmen as terrorists just as he did to the IPOB. Sam Anyanwu, the senator representing Imo East, has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led executive to declare the perpetrators as terrorists. The lawmaker made this call in reaction to recent killings in Benue State. According to Premium Times, Mr. Anyanwu spoke on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday. His submission followed the Senate’s consideration of an interim report by the ad-hoc committee on the review of security infrastructure of Nigeria. He wants the perpetrators to be tagged terrorists just as members of the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB. “They said these people are not Fulani cattle rearers, that they are foreigners. Then if they are foreigners, they should be tagged terrorists,” he said. “If IPOB was tagged a terrorist group because they are agitating, what about foreigners who come into Nigeria to kill people and then we see

The President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, has spoken on the increasing herdsmen attack in some parts of Nigeria. Dangote on Tuesday, while speaking with Channels Tv revealed that increasing rate of unemployment was to blame for the attacks. “If there are jobs, there wouldn’t be anything like Boko Haram, there would not be anything like herdsmen. Once you are engaged, you do not have time for mischief. “The government is working tirelessly to make sure that we resolve this issue about herdsmen. “Government cannot do it on its own; we also need to do our own. The government is giving us an opportunity to also create jobs. “And I think people are under-rating how many jobs we need to create, not just in Nigeria and Africa, we need to create 12 million jobs every year in Africa.” On how to tackle unemployment, the industrialist called for a need to focus on Agriculture. “I think we should focus on agriculture, we should focus on solid minera

Mbazulike Amechi, former Aviation Minister in the First Republic has highlighted reasons President Muhammadu Buhari shouldn’t seek to be re-elected for a second term in 2019. The elder statesman said Nigeria was a developing country, and that as such it won’t be in the best interest of the country to re-elect an “analogue president in a digital era.” Speaking with The Sun, Amechi also noted that going by Buhari’s age and health, it was not in the president’s best interest to seek a second term. Noting that the president has the constitutional right to seek re-election in 2019, the former Minister, however, urged Buhari to toe the line of late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, who willingly stepped down from power. According to the former Minister, “By the constitution, by the laws of the land, he is entitled to contest for a second term. But then, the question is: is it right; is it in the best interest of this country? Here is somebody who has ruled this country as a mil

Following an invasion of gunmen suspected to be herders who were earlier denied access to grazing, the local residents of Isiadu Community Ameke Ibeku in Umuahia North of Abia State have fled their community. Over 300 residents of Isiadu Community Ameke Ibeku in Umuahia North of Abia State have fled their community following invasion by gunmen suspected to be herders, according to DailyTrust. The suspected herders who witnesses said entered the community in the early hours of yesterday with a large number of cows, resisted attempts by the villagers to deny them access to their farmlands for grazing.   The herders were said to have arrived from Urbani Ibeku in Umuahia North, a village located at the northern end of Abia State. The village head of Isiadu, Chief Ochionye Chilaka, said his kinsmen abandoned their homes and took refuge in the bushes when the herders started shooting into the air. He said at least 300 people fled their homes when it became obvious that the herders ha

Leke Adeboye, son of Pastor Adeboye, has reacted to the arrest of Prophet El-Buba, via his Facebook page. Operatives of the DSS  reportedly arrested Prophet Isa El-Buba, the General Overseer of the Evangelical Bible Outreach International (EBOMI) Ministries, at his home yesterday by 7pm. His arrest came following his condemnation of Fulani herdsmen attack, blaming President Buhari for being irresponsible and wicked, as well. Leke via his FB page wrote; I just woke up, upset this morning. I don’t know why. Wait I actually do. Maybe it’s because DSS is trying to arrest Prophet El Buba in JOS. Why? For his strong vidoes, please how many herds men have you arrested lately? What are we doing here? We will be watching and waiting. We bring the news to you as it comes.....

The senior pastor of the El-Buba Outreach Ministry, Prophet Isa El-Buba has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of sending men of the Department of State Services, DSS to him. The pastor had, while addressing his congregants during a church service, condemned President Buhari for failing to arrest Fulani herdsmen carrying out attacks in various parts of the country. The Facebook page of the clergyman on Monday evening raised the alarm that some DSS officials allegedly on President Buhari’s order, stormed the church premises to arrest the clergyman. ”This is to alert you all that Mr. President has sent the DSS to arrest prophet Isa El-buba after the time with Jesus meeting at about 7pm. “They have been around since then, the picture you see with the white Hilux and more than three men inside awaiting his arrest, but nothing has happened yet as God is in control. “Please pass it on enough is enough.” The pastor had during the church service, “I don’t want you Nigerians to be

Nigerian Comedian, I Go Dye has taken to social media to pen down a great advise to the Nigerian Police Force – telling them what to focus on at the moment. He took to his Instagram page to speak on the malaise of Fulani herdsmen currently affecting some states in Nigeria – asking who the real herdsmen are?… He wrote: “THE POLICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING PRO- ACTIVE MEASURES TO ARREST HERDSMEN WITH AK47 BY INVESTIGATING THEIR SOURCE OF WEAPONRY, BUT THEY ARE BUSY HARRASING GUYS WITH LAPTOPS AND PHONE’S WHO ARE THE REAL HERDSMEN ? A group of civilian’s who have been employed by the untouchables and elites have become a national problem.Logically, the principal takes responsibility for the flaws and successes of the agent,so in this premise who are the owners’ of the cattle and the herdsmen. An Ak 47 rifle is estimated at over a million Naira, so how does these herdsmen walking across the country afford it? The elites should own up to their mistakes. In solving this problem ther

Some Benue youths on a revenge mission engaged security operatives at Wadatta area, a suburb of the capital city in a shootout on Sunday. According to Punch , some youths had gathered in a particular place, with policemen and soldiers suspecting they could cause havoc, hence the decision to engage the youths. It is believed the youths had gathered following the massacre of about 73 persons by Fulani herdsmen in the state and planning on how to cause trouble with the Hausa communities in the state. Both Tiv and Hausa youths caused mayhem on Saturday, which led to several persons being injured and currently receiving treatment in hospitals in Makurdi. The Benue youths were on a mission to avenge the death of their kinsmen killed by herdsmen. Since the attack in some parts of the ancient town, soldiers have been stationed in Wadata area to quell any possible outbreak of riot When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Moses Yamu, who confirmed the report, said the comm

The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has strongly condemned decision by the Federal Government to pay N40 million to former Presidents, describing it as “heartless, anti-people and capitalist-driven.” MURIC noted that the Nigerian system makes the rich-richer and the poor-poorer, adding that it’s a mark of indecency for the same government to deny thousands of retirees their benefits but presents huge amount of money to former presidents. The group wondered why the federal government would pay a whopping N40 million to an ex-president, who during his stay in office arrogated all the nation’s resources to himself, but finds it difficult to pay a paltry N18,000 minimum wage to civil servants. Recall that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, had on Thursday, 11th January, 2018 revealed that the government paid N40 million to a former president. MURIC, in a statement by its Director, Ishaq Akintola, said, “How decent are we as a people if thousands

The pan-Igbo socio-Political organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has told the Federal Government to perish its idea of cattle colonies, insisting that Ndigbo will not be dragged into such plan. The Federal Government of Nigeria had last week, concluded plans to establish, “cattle colonies,” across the country in its quest for a lasting solution to the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen. But Ohaneze has told the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration that Igbos have their own breed of cows that do not go about causing troubles, adding that creating colonies where animals are not bred, would cause more harm. For this, the group wants the Nigerian government to forget the idea of cattle colonies in the South-East geopolitical zone. Speaking with the Punch, the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Uche Achi-Okpaga, said, “We have our local breed of cows in the South-East. They are herded and not allowed to cause damage. If they do, as may be rarely seen, it

Scandal appears to follow President Muhammadu Buhari meeting with leaders of the National Assembly over the recent killings in Benue State. Present at the meeting held on Sunday, January 14, 2018, at the Aso Villa was Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara at the Aso Villa. According to the presidency, the meeting discussed the security situation in Benue and other parts of the country. “The presidency called the meeting to brief @nassnigeria on @AsoRock’s ongoing efforts at #SecuringBenue,” a tweet from the official handle of the president (@NGRPresident) said on Sunday. Aso Rock also shared photos of the meeting showing the three leaders beaming with smiles. It should be noted wide smiles and boisterous laughter, is the hallmark of photo ops of the Buhari presidency. So when the photo below was shared on social media by the State House, a swift citizen backlash ensued. The offensive photo showed the three men seated around a

Former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)​, with the support of Nigerians, will unseat the government of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. ​He said this at a ‘Unity ​R​ally’ organised by the party in Agaie/Lapai Local Government Area​ of the State. At the event, over 600 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defected to the PDP. “We will resist any form of intimidation put on our way to reclaiming power at all levels of governance in the country​,​”​ the PDP chieftain said.​ ​Babangida disclosed that a committee had been put in place to ensure victory for the PDP in 2019 general election​. The former governor warned the party faithful against cross-carpeting after primaries, saying those who remained, despite pains and humiliation, would be applauded and compensated. ​PDP​ state chairman, Alhaji Tanko Beji, apologised for past mistakes of the party which foisted the APC on the people of the s

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has responded to Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi’s claim that victims of Herdsmen killings were repaying for their alleged genocide against the Falani ethnic extraction. Emir Sanusi had said, “Some months ago in Mambilla, in one weekend, over 800 Fulani were murdered by Mambilla militias. The papers did not even go there to cover the story. Most of those wiped out were women, infants and the elderly. “…In many of these cases, it was not about the conflict but militias raiding settlements to kill women and children, and then later, attacking herdsmen and slaughtering them and their cattle.” But reacting, Governor Ortom flayed the Emir 77  suggesting that the Tiv people have been killing the Fulanis, adding that the people of Benue have always been on the receiving end of the herdsmen-farmers clashes. “Tiv people have not been killing Fulani, the whole world knows who has been the aggressor and who has been the victim in these attacks and the vi

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, has explained what he meant by the term ‘cattle colony’ as the only solution to the protracted clash between Fulani herdsmen and farmers. The minister insisted that cattle colonies being suggested by his ministry remained the only panacea in sight to ending the recurring war. Ogbeh had on Monday said Federal Government had resolved to establish cattle colonies in a bid to put an end to the persistent Fulani herdsmen, farmers’ crisis across the country. According to the minister, facilities such as grass and water will be provided to take care of herdsmen and their cattle. Speaking with DAILY POST yesterday in his Abuja home, Ogbeh said Nigerians had largely misunderstood the concept of cattle colonies thereby, misinterpreting it with sensational reportage in the media as extending Fulani colonialism. He revealed that the cattle colonies being talked about does not transfer land ownership to Fulanis and was not a new

Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra MASSOB, has stated that the killing being perpetrated by herdsmen in parts of Benue and Taraba states was a kind of pay back to those who joined Hausa/Fulani to slaughter Igbos in 1967. MASSOB also warned governors and traditional rulers from South East not to give any part of Biafraland to Fulani herdsmen for the purposes of cattle colony, adding that the North had large expanse of land. MASSOB’s Director of Information, Sunny Okereafor, while speaking with Daily Sun, said the warning had become imperative because of information at the organisation’s disposal that some state governors and traditional rulers from the South East were negotiating with the Northern oligarchy to give out some portions of land in Biafra to Fulani herdsmen to serve as cattle colonies. “Anybody doing this dangerous negotiation should be aware of the consequences of giving out Biafraland to Fulani herdsmen, which we see as abomination, and whic

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday said that he hopes that Nigeria may soon begin to see the change the Federal Government promised in the power sector. The former president stated this at the investiture of Adekunle Mokuolu as the 31st President of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE). According to Obasanjo, figures released by government officials cannot be used to assess the power situation in the country. He said that the situation can only be ascertained by Nigerians who are the consumers of electricity. He therefore called on the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Mr. James Olotu, an award recipient on the occasion, to see that Nigerians get value for their money. Obasanjo, had before presenting the award to Olotu, demanded to know if all the power plants had been completed. In his response, Olotu said that they were over 90 per cent completed. Apparently not satisfied with the response, Obasanjo said that the supply of elec

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has said that the idea of cattle colonies is an insult to Nigerians. Addressing reporters on the issue, the Secretary-General of the association, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, expressed disappointment the way President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government was handling the issue of incessant clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and the farmers in some parts of the country with levity. According to Afenifere, the crisis that would be created with the creation of cattle colonies would be worse than open grazing system which had been rejected by many Nigerians. Arogbofa stated, “The term colony is very insulting w people are being killed in their 20s and 30s by some armed men and their killers are not arrested. “In fact, I don’t know how to describe it. I think they are only playing on words. “It is very irritating and insulting to be throwing the idea of cattle colony at us. I think we should do the right thing; we should call

Asks how many cows will Fulani man sell to buy N3m AK-47 Senior Pastor of Living Faith World Outreach (a.k.a Winners Chapel) , Bishop David Oyedepo, has raised the alarm of impending danger in the country over the failure of the federal government to check the activities of Fulani herdsmen and stop the killing of innocent Nigerians, warning that “the soul of Nigeria is near the point of death.” Oyedepo, who made the declarations in his prophetic messages to the nation on Sunday, accused the federal government of looking the other way while the Fulani herdsmen are wrecking havoc in the land. He said, “The security apparatus of the country has obviously failed to defend the property and lives of these poor farmers. While we are claiming to be curtailing Boko Haram, we are on the other hand aiding and abetting herdsmen and their murderous acts.” The revered cleric, who said that God gave him the message about the looming danger in 1992, stated that, “insurgency is spreading across