Hausa, Yoruba, Igbos, not Fulani are the real beneficiaries of banditry —Gov Mohammed

Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed on Friday claimed that Nigerians of Yoruba and Igbo extraction are the real beneficiaries of banditry in the country.

The governor also insisted that bandits terrorising the North are not Fulanis, claiming that there are Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa who are the real beneficiaries of the illicit trade.

The governor, who stated this on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, said: “These bandits are not only Fulanis.

Read also: Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi tests positive for coronavirus

“In fact, they are terrorising the Fulanis but they have Fulani miscreants within them; they have Hausa, they have Igbo suppliers; they have Yoruba. They’re people really benefitting from the illicit trade.”

Mohammed, who came under fire for saying Fulani herdsmen carry AK-47 for self-defense, also said he has not changed his mind on his comment that herders have no option but to carry AK-47 for self-defence because they are being attacked and killed by cattle rustlers.

“I have not changed my opinion on the issue; I was not defending herdsmen,” he said.

Governor Mohammed also stated that Nigerians don’t need the permission of any governor to reside anywhere in the country.

He said, “Land is in the hands of the state and federal governments in trust but Nigerians don’t need the permission of governors or the federal government to settle everywhere. You don’t need the permission of the governor of Bauchi or the governor of Ondo to be in the forests of Ondo if you choose to live in the forests because under Section 41 of the constitution, you are free to settle anywhere.”

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