A group under the auspices of “Plateau Fulani Defenders”, PFD, has alleged that every indigenous tribe in Plateau State has what it described as “ethnic militias” who not only stage attacks on their people but also carry out other criminal acts.
The coordinator of the PFD, Ahmad Abba, who made these allegations in a communique after a meeting on Wednesday, said the wholesale tagging of Fulani people as militias was unfair to hard-working herders who go about minding their business of tending to their cattle.
Abba stated that though there are criminal elements among the Fulani people, just like any set of people, that does not mean all herders are criminals and bandits as is being portrayed in the media.
“I make bold to say that in Plateau State, every indigenous tribe has its own ethnic militias that engage in criminal activities, even against their own people. But whenever these attacks occur, the media is quick to ascribe them to Fulani militias,” Abba said.
He noted that the way the media in the state rush to conclude that every attack is carried out by Fulani militias is not only insulting to hardworking herders but a wrongful indictment of the whole Fulani population in Nigeria.
“Our people have been classified as criminals and bandits just because of the actions of a few. But as I said, we also have ethnic militias in every tribe in Plateau State.
“We have the Berom Militias who, I can say without contradiction, are the most dangerous set of local criminals. They are mostly involved in attacks on Fulani communities, killing innocent herdsmen and rustling their cows.
“There are Mwaghavul Militias, Irigwe Militias, Tarok Militias, Angas Militias, and so on. They are all criminal gangs but no one talks about them. All the focus is on Fulani militias and we have to put a stop to that henceforth,” Abba said.
