Miyetti Allah vows to resist forced eviction from South-West

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, on Sunday, February 14, vowed to resist any eviction from the South-West.

According to the Miyetti Allah, their rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution to live wherever they desire.

Furthermore, the body pledged to avenge the alleged attacks on and loss of herdsmen and their cattle, saying it would never tolerate any act of injustice on herders.

This disclosure was contained in a statement issued by the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Mr Alhassan Saleh, in an interview in reaction to the eviction notices issued to criminal herdsmen by some South-West groups and personalities.

Saleh said it was wrong to drive herders out of any part of Nigeria and that even if there were criminals among them, it was the function of the government’s security forces to identify and arrest them.

He said the eviction of Miyetti Allah herdsmen from the southern region of the country was a dangerous precedent and that the best way to solve the herders-farmers crisis was for state governments to provide ranches and grazing routes for the herders and their animals.

4wardwego had reported that the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in January asked all Fulani herdsmen to vacate the forest reserves in the state. He later issued a seven-day ultimatum to the effect.

The governor gave the order at a meeting with leaders of the Hausa/Fulani and Ebira communities in the state, saying the activities of the herdsmen had long been causing a threat to security in the state.

However, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore National Secretary, Saleh, said no group could evict the herders, vowing to resist any eviction from the South-West.

He said, “Nobody has the right (to evict herdsmen). If you say you are going to evict us, we will resist eviction. We have been surviving in harsh environments; if we do not resist, we will be wiped out of the planet. If you kill a herder, don’t go and sleep, we will revisit you, and it’s not because we hate your tribe. People attack herders, and in one way or the other, herders have found a way to retaliate.”

Saleh also asked governors to provide land for ranching for the herders as a solution to the continuous crisis, adding that the eviction of herders would only lead to wider consequences.