April 1 ban on ‘fulani beef’ in South-East irreversible —IPOB

The ban on the consumption of ‘Fulani Beef’ in the South-East which is to take effect on April 1, is irreversible and cannot be changed, according to the proscribed Igbo separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Earier in January, the group had, in a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, said the consumption of cow meat in the region would be banned from April 1.

The group also advised the people in the region to look for alternatives to the ‘Fulani Cows’ as any attempt to go against the ban would be dealt with decisively when the ban came into effect.

The ban announcement had drawn a lot of condemnation by many Nigerians, especially Northern groups and in particular, the Northern Cattle Traders Union which, in a statement by its Chairman, Muhammad Tahir, said its members were not perturbed by the IPOB ban.

However, in another statement by Powerful on Monday, IPOB insisted that the ban was sacrosanct and irreversible as it would be enforced to the letter.

“We wish to reiterate that our earlier decision to ban the movement and consumption of Fulani cows in Biafra land, from April 2022, is sacrosanct.

“We also wish to correct the misinformation and misconceptions surrounding our position on the issue which our enemies are peddling to blackmail us.

“In the first place, the decision was taken as a last resort after many years of patience over the unprovoked genocidal attacks by Fulani herdsmen on our communities, and the failure of the double-faced Nigeria security agencies to rein in the rampaging Fulani mass murderers.

“We have waited enough and can no longer tolerate the docility and criminal silence of the Federal Government in protecting our communities against these agents of death.

“Since their cows have been the reason the jihadists are slaughtering our people, destroying our farms, raping our women and kidnapping our men for ransom, we have decided to stop consuming these cursed Fulani cows which have now become a source of sorrow and death.

“It’s better we are alive and eat no Fulani cows than desire to eat them and be killed.

“The world should note that before arriving at this IRREVERSIBLE decision, we have made several appeals to the federal government and the security agencies to stop the Fulani from their atrocities in our land but they looked the other way, leaving our hapless communities at the mercy of these messengers of death.

Read also: IPOB members are poorly educated children, not terrorists – Okorocha

“Our patience has been over stretched beyond its elasticity point. We can no longer afford to fold our arms and be waiting for the last man in Biafra land to be killed by jihadists masquerading as herdsmen.

“Our people waste huge sums of money up to N3bn every year on cow meat and we won’t allow that to continue and encouraging those who have the money to start breeding our local cows (Efi Igbo) and other farming, IPOB will support them to boosts the farming and animal husbandry business.

“Our decision to ban the movement, sale and consumption of Fulani cows throughout Biafra land with effect from April of this year is not borne out of hate, but we are safeguarding our land and our people from the evil agenda of Fulanis.

“Our decision is born out of the natural desire to preserve our race from being wiped out by the herdsmen.

“If you are a Biafran dealing on Fulani cows in Biafraland, its better you look for an alternative now because we won’t spare any inch regarding herdsmen cows after April this year, don’t say we don’t warn you. A word is enough for the wise.”

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