HERDSMEN KILLINGS: Anarchy looms as group urges Middle Belt to gather weapons

In reaction to Saturday’s massacre of over 100 in Plateau State, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has admonished the people of the region to resort to self help, saying that it has become clear that government cannot protect them any longer.

The group said that the people should use whatever is at their disposal, be it cutlasses, sticks, anything to defend themselves from the killer herdsmen.

It also urged the citizens of the region to set up vigilante groups for the sole purpose of using them to defend the people from bloody attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

MBF president, Dr. Pogu Bitrus made this call at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said, “We call on the entire people of the Middle Belt to organise themselves in their communities to defend themselves and their property as the government has abdicated its responsibility to protect them. How you defend yourself is your prerogative; if I have a cutlass, I will use it, if I have a stick, I will use it. When people are not protected, they will resort to self-help. We are calling on our people to mobilise themselves.”

Bitrus said that he was calling self help considering the fact that the security agencies had continued to fail to arrest and investigate the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria or the Miyetti Allah Kautal Haure, which allegedly claimed responsibility for the killings.

READ ALSO: PLATEAU MASSACRE: Real presidents take decisive action not speeches, Fayose tells Buhari

“The refusal of the Inspector-General of Police to stay in Makurdi as directed by the President in January 2018, and the recent comment by the Minister of Defence directing states to suspend the Anti-Open Grazing Prohibition Laws are clear evidence that they are neither interested, willing nor able to be fair to the people of the Middle Belt,” he said.

He then called on President Buhari to without any further delay order for the arrest of the MACBAN and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore leaders for investigation and prosecution.

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