Middle Belt Patriots Warn Against FG’s Grazing Lands Demand, Citing Insecurity
Written by Deborah Oyinloye on March 17, 2024
The Middle Belt Patriots group has strongly advised state governors against yielding to pressure from the Federal Government to allocate lands to herders for grazing purposes, warning that such actions could exacerbate insecurity in the Middle Belt region and across the nation.
Following President Bola Tinubu’s call for governors to allocate land for RUGA or ranching during the agricultural mechanisation revolution launch in Minna, the group, in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Strategic Communications, Steven Kefas, expressed concern over the Federal Government’s favouritism toward pastoralists.
The statement condemned the directive, emphasizing its detrimental impact on the already fragile security situation in the Middle Belt, where indigenous populations face threats from armed ethnic militias associated with herders.
“We of the Middle Belt Patriots vehemently condemn and reject the recent directive from the Federal Government asking state governors to make land available for grazing by Fulani herdsmen,” the statement declared.
The group cautioned leaders in the Middle Belt region to defy the federal directive, highlighting the potential consequences of conceding more land for grazing. They warned of exacerbating ethnic clashes, genocidal massacres, violent displacement of indigenous communities, and the disruption of fragile peace in affected areas.
“Capitulating to these demands and ceding more land for grazers will only fan the flames of the ethnic clashes, further the genocidal massacres, escalate the violent displacement of indigenes from their ancestral lands and jeopardize the fragile peace in a region that has already suffered immensely,” the statement concluded.
Author: Deborah Oyinloye
With an interest in media, Deborah aims to impart the lives of people positively.
