Fulani herdsmen: We have acquired enough weapons to repel any attack... Angry farmers warns

Angry farmers, youths, and some local hunters in many communities in the country

said they have decided to acquire weapons against unprovoked attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

They also vowed to stop what they described as the mindless killings and destruction of their farmlands by rampaging Fulani herdsmen.

According to them, they will no longer sit down and watch the herdsmen attack them and destroy the sources of their livelihood.

They said they decided to resort to self-help because they had lost confidence in the security agencies’ ability to protect them against attacks.

Fulani herders have recently killed hundreds in Benue, Plateau, Adamawa and Enugu states, among others, with many of the suspected killers not arrested for prosecution, despite the repeated promises by the government, especially the police, to stop the nefarious activities of the killer herders and bring them to justice.

The alleged failure by the government to contain the cruel activities of the herders, Saturday PUNCH learnt, prompted the angry farmers and the youths to begin to amass arms and other weapons such as machetes, and axes in preparation against sudden attacks.

A farmer in Osun State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that they were prepared to “do battle with the herdsmen in case they extend their rampage to our state.”

A member of a vigilance group in the state, who simply gave his appellation as “D Keller,” told one of our correspondents that “nobody has the monopoly of violence.”

Asked where they got their weapons from, he simply said, “First ask the Fulani herdsmen to tell you where they got their own from before you ask me to tell you the source of our weapons.”

The Coordinator, Oodua People’s Congress in Osun State, Mr. Oyeyinka Awoyemi, said the problem posed by herdsmen had got to a level where it should be urgently addressed by the government.

Awoyemi said members of the OPC would no longer watch Fulani herdsmen destroy property and kill Yoruba people in their domains.

He said, “We cannot continue to keep quiet in the face of these mindless attacks. We will never allow them to drive us out of our land. We have given them general warnings and anywhere Fulani herdsmen kill a Yoruba man, deity will fight there. I will not say more than that.

“Can any Yoruba kill Fulani in their domain? We will not allow that to happen again. The Yoruba will fight for themselves.”