Ohanaeze To Malami: Don’t Compare Motor Spare Parts Sellers With Killer Herdsmen

Motor spare parts dealers of Southern Nigeria render their services to the populace from a shop or a shade and are not comparable to the Fulani herders who invade farmlands, destroy crops, debauch women, maim, abduct and kill, says Ohanaeze Ndigbo in a response to Nigeria’s attorney general and minister of justice.

Mr Abubakar Malami had, in a reaction to the ban on open grazing by the governors of the Southern part of the country, stated that ‘the decision by the Southern governors to ban open grazing is unconstitutional and like a ban on the sale of motor spare parts in the North’.

Ohanaeze, Thursday, said people of Southern Nigerian never had any problem with the herdsmen until ‘Fulani herdsmen became impudent and uncontrollably lionized’.

The pan-Igbo organization, in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, said the latest stance was a result of abuses perpetrated by the herders.

The statement read, “They [herder] would unleash their cattle on a farm and would maim and kill the owner of the farm. They would violate and debauch young girls and mothers before sending them to early graves.

“The Southern governors had complained to the Presidency to no avail; rather the herders were massively indulged with fire arms, AK 47, to enable them to shoot at will any indigenous farmer that stood their ways.

“The likes of Governor Bala Mohammed were very vehement in defence of the AK 47 trigger happy Fulani herders. The effects of the above scenario are banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of agitation in the South.

“To solve any problem, we first attack the cause of the problem and that is precisely what the Southern governors have done. Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Ambassador Professor George Obiozor condemns the remark by Malami as malevolent, ominous and incendiary. He is a chief law officer that twists the law at will.

“He had in the past stated that ‘the rule of law is subservient to national security’. Malami had also condemned the Amotekun security outfit. The motor spare parts sellers render their services to the populace from a shop or a shade and are in no way comparable to the Fulani herders who invade farmlands, destroy crops, debauch women, maim, abduct and kill.”