Fulani
Rivers governor urges media practitioners to report objectively
Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Tuesday urged media practitioners to be more circumspect while reporting issues that could further polarise the country. Wike gave the advice in Port Harcourt at a meeting held to reconcile Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed. He advised media houses to play a role in stabilising the peace and unity of Nigeria. “The press should have a role to play in stabilising the country; it is not everything you must report. You don’t try to escalate things and when you do that you are not helping the country,” he said. Wike thanked the two governors for amicably resolving their differences. “We give God the glory today that the differences have been sorted out,” he said. Similarly, Ortom thanked Wike and Gov Ahmed Fintiri of Adamawa f...
Bauchi deputy speaker asks Benue governor to apologise to Bauchi people
Following the statement by the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom describing his counterpart in Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed as a terrorist, the Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA), Hon. Danlami Ahmed Kawule, who is also representing Zungur/Galambi Constituency has urged Ortom to apologise to the people of Bauchi State for making the alleged derogatory statement. The Deputy Speaker who stated this yesterday during an interview with journalists in Bauchi, said that the citizens of the state as well as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state are not happy over the strain in relationship between the two PDP governors who are supposed to be working towards the unity of the nation. He maintained that leaders in the country should refrain from making...
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Official: Why Imo government invited soldiers to Orlu
The Imo State Government has declared its support for the “ongoing military operation” in Orlu Local Government Area of the state. There were apprehensions in Orlu a few days ago when a military helicopter flew at low level in the area. Channels TV quoted the Attorney General of Imo State, Cyprian Akaolisa, as saying the operation, which was conducted jointly with the police, was aimed at “clearing camps” said to have been built by the Eastern Security Network, a security arm of the pro-Biafra group, IPOB. Akaolisa, who briefed reporters on Friday in Owerri, said the Nigerian Army was invited to Orlu by the Imo State Government. He said “the state government got intelligence that IPOB was planning an attack against the Orlu people and the government, under the pretext of looking for herder...
Senator threatens to join kinsmen in self defence against Fulani herdsmen
Facebook Worried by the seeming helplessness of security agencies to stem the tide of incessant attacks of communities in Yewaland in Ogun State allegedly by Fulani herdsmen, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC-Lagos West) has threatened to join his kinsmen in self defence. The Senator, who made the threat in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said his action in that direction is being fuelled by the inaction of both the Federal and Ogun State Governments to stop incessant attacks of communities in Yewaland by Fulani herdsmen. Adeola, in the statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Kayode Odunaro, said the latest of such attacks were the ones brazenly carried out in Yewa North, Imeko, Afon, Ipokia and Yewa South Local Government Areas two weeks ago, occasioning several deaths and destruction...
Benue berates Bauchi governor over comments
The Benue State Government has described as shocking claims by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed that Governor Samuel Ortom was responsible for the negative perception of Fulani by other Nigerians. The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Animal Husbandry, Alhaji Shehu Tambaya, stated this in a chat with newsmen on Sunday. Tambaya, who described as unfortunate, Governor Mohammed’s statement about Governor Ortom, insisting that people from all works of life live do business in all parts of Benue without any problem. He maintained that although he would not want to join issues with Governor Mohammed, Governor Ortom has proven to be a lover of all Nigerians irrespective of political, ethnic or religious inclination. ‘Governor Mohammed is only trying to defend what is undefen...
Police: Wole Soyinka’s house not attacked
The Police in Ogun State on Wednesday refuted social media reports that the home of Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, located in the Kemta area of Abeokuta, the state capital, was attacked by suspected herdsmen The police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement said contrary to the reports, the incident was triggered by a stray cow sighted on Tuesday “within the vicinity of Soyinka’s home”. “The attention of Ogun State Police Command has been drawn to a video circulating on social media about a purported attack of Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka’s house by Fulani herdsmen and the command wishes to set the record straight,” Oyeyemi said. The police spokesperson said “one Kazeem, an indigene of Ijeun, who is into the cattle business, was informed by his cattle herder, Awalu Muhammed, tha...
Benue governor calls for arrest of ‘Fulani spokesman’
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has called for the arrest and questioning of a self-acclaimed spokesman of Fulani groups and All Progressive Congress, APC, chieftain, Garus Gololo, over alleged comments on Benue killings. Gololo had recently alleged that Governor Ortom was sponsoring attacks on Fulanis residing in Benue state. Piqued by the allegation, the governor demanded an apology and retraction. The Governor in a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, alleged that Gololo had not been new to such false and malicious statements after his request, to be appointed a Special Adviser in Benue state was turned down. “Since Governor Ortom turned down his request to be made Special Adviser preferring to appoint another Fulani man as his aide, Gololo has launched a ce...
Northern elders restate total support for President Buhari, APC
Northern elders have restated their unflinching support to President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal administration in the country. They have also appealed to Nigerians to be patient and believe in the Buhari government, saying the president was taking steps to addressing the current challenges especially insecurity confronting Nigeria. This came as they berated stakeholders in the region over what they described as their long silence in the face of unbearable criminal acts by herdsmen across the country thereby denting the image of the region. The elders under the umbrella of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, in a statement on Saturday, however, commended renowned Islamic Scholar and preacher, Sheik Abubakar Gumi for taking bold st...
Yul Edochie: Nnamdi Kanu is grossly misunderstood
Nollywood Actor, Yul Edochie, Friday celebrated the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. In a short write-up via his verified Instgram handle, the 39 year old Nigerian actor, said that Kanu was grossly misunderstood. He described Kanu as a hero, noting that Kanu is fighting for the emancipation of Africans. His words: “Today is not his birthday but I choose to celebrate this great man today. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. A Hero who is grossly misunderstood. But all he truly wants is for Africans to wake up and take serious decisions that will bring lasting peace in Africa. Live long great man. May Chukwu Okike Abiama be with you always.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CKnyd4XHg0s/ Meanwhile, the IPOB leader has called upon the South-east governors to ban open grazing in the region...
Bauchi, Benue governors reconcile in Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, brokered a truce between the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed in Port Harcourt. The conflict was resolved following the intervention of Governor Wike and his Adamawa State counterpart, Governor Ahmed Fintiri. Briefing journalists at the meeting, which held at Governor Wike’s private residence at Rumuepirikom, Governor Mohammed said the outburst between him and Governor Ortom over herders/Fulani profiling was regrettable. “We don’t mean to divide the country, to divide our people. We are still friends and brothers and that we will move forward because most of those issues are fully resolved. “I want to seize this opportunity to tell Nigerians that whatever misconception that is there, th...