Nigeria will scatter if anarchists continue to attack Fulani herdsmen — Bashir Tofa

Elder statesman Bashir Tofa has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the attacks on Fulani herdsmen and settlers or see the end of Nigeria as we know it.

Tofa said anarchists are carrying out extra-judicial killings against Fulanis in the South-West with the secret support of “foolish” governors.

Tofa spoke on Tuesday, hours after a fresh attack on a Fulani community in Ogun State that led to the killing of a herdsman and the burning of a settlement and a market.

The attack is being blamed on Yoruba activist Sunday Igboho who accused Fulani settlers of vandalism, kidnapping, rape and murder, and have vowed to expel them from Yorubaland.

In a message tagged “Statement of Serious Concern,” Tofa described attacks on Fulanis in the South-West as “unacceptable.”

“The mayhem we see, almost every day now, of killings and maiming of people of Northern extraction, including especially, the Fulani, in some other parts of the country, is unacceptable,” Tofa said.

“There is a nefarious plan by the enemies of this potentially great country to initiate a violent crisis that may lead to its destruction.

“Tension is beginning to brew, and if revenge attacks on Southerners begin here in the North, it will be difficult to control. Our enemies from within and outside, some well-known by our security agencies, are more determined than ever to set us against each other, so that we may get to a point of no return when the conflagration began.

“There is no part of this country that is at peace. Local and neighbouring, including foreign terrorist, are busy, fully armed, to cause whatever damage they can inflict on our dear country.

“I, therefore, call on the president to take this insecurity and the tribal lynching happening very seriously and put up urgent measures to deal with them without any more delays. I am sure, there is a concern at the Presidency and discussions are being held. But, urgent and decisive action is now necessary.

“If any Nigerian will not be allowed to live freely and conduct their lives and businesses in any part of the country without being disturbed or molested or even killed, then no one should be allowed to settle and prosper anywhere else.

“If that were to be the case, then, we have no country. That is how serious it is. And that is what our enemies desire. We must not allow them by our inaction.”

On continued eviction orders against Fulani by Igboho, and the apparent silence of some governors, Tofa said, “Those foolish leaders and their stupid hirelings who encourage the expulsion of other Nigerians from their states should remember that their people also live in other parts. They must stop, or the law should stop them by all means necessary.”