The
umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, has said
terrorists and not Fulani herdsmen are killing people in remote communities
across the country.
In
a statement yesterday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, by its spokesman,
Eric Omare, IYC condemned the “slaughtering” of innocent Nigerians in the
Middle Belt, Southwest and, recently, in Enugu State, Southeast.
The
organisation described the herdsmen’s actions as barbaric.
It
noted that traditional Fulani herdsmen had conducted their business peacefully
for decades without killing their neighbours.
IYC
said the alleged sponsored attacks could be a plot by disgruntled persons to
pit one ethnic group against the other to destabilise the country.
The
statement said: “We believe that the attacks are carried out by terrorists, who
disguise as Fulani herdsmen.
“The
traditional Fulani herdsmen have been grazing their cattle for decades in
different parts of the country without such attacks, until recently when the
attacks became persistent.”
It
said: “The IYC believes that the attacks by the Fulani herdsmen are deliberate
terrorist and religious agenda to wipe out some communities in the Middle Belt
and Southern part of the country.
“We
call on communities in Niger Delta, especially the Ijaw communities, to be
vigilant and watch out for these terrorists disguising as Fulani herdsmen.
“We
call on community and youth leaders in different Niger Delta communities to set
up structures to prevent such attacks and bring such activities to the knowledge
of security agencies.
“The
IYC clan and community structures all over Ijaw communities in Nigeria have
been directed to set up a special task force to monitor and report activities
of these murderers masquerading as Fulani herdsmen.”
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