M’Belt Group Reveals FG’s Plan That Might Worsen Insecurity

The Middle Belt Patriots, a prominent advocacy group, has voiced a strong appeal to state governors, urging them to resist any pressure from the Federal Government to allocate lands for herders’ grazing purposes.

The group’s call comes in response to President Bola Tinubu’s recent advocacy for states to dedicate portions of land for RUGA or ranching initiatives, aimed at Fulani herders.

During the launch of an agricultural mechanisation revolution in Minna, the capital of Niger State, President Tinubu emphasized the need for such allocations to promote agricultural and pastoral activities.

However, the Middle Belt Patriots, representing the interests of the Middle Belt region, have expressed concerns that conceding lands for grazing could exacerbate the already tense security situation in the area and beyond.

In their statement released on Saturday, signed by Steven Kefas, the group’s Director of Media and Strategic Communications, the Middle Belt Patriots articulated their apprehensions regarding the Federal Government’s approach.

They highlighted the perceived bias in favoring pastoralist interests, which they argue comes at the expense of indigenous communities.

These communities, according to the group, are increasingly threatened by the encroachments and violent actions of armed militias associated with the herders.

The statement read partly, “We of the Middle Belt Patriots vehemently condemn and reject the recent directive from the Federal Government asking state governors to make land available for grazing by Fulani herdsmen.

“This provocative and ill-advised order shows a shocking disregard for the already tenuous security situation in the Middle Belt region that has been under sustained violent attack by armed Fulani ethnic militias.

“We sternly warn the political leaders, monarchs, and youth/community leaders of the Middle Belt region – Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, and sections of Taraba, Adamawa, Bauchi, Southern Kaduna, and Gombe – to outright disregard and defy this reckless federal directive.

“Capitulating to these demands and ceding more land for grazers will only fan the flames of the ethnic clashes, further the genocidal massacres, escalate the violent displacement of indigenes from their ancestral lands, and jeopardise the fragile peace in a region that has already suffered immensely.”