Categories: News

Why Fulani Herdsmen Carry AK-47 – Bauchi Gov.

Bala Mohammed, Bauchi state governor, has disclosed why Fulani Herdsmen carry weapons in the course of their pastoral endeavour.

Mohammed who spoke on Thursday in the state capital, Bauchi, said the herdsmen do that to protect themselves against dangers they encounter in the forest where their nomadic sojourn often takes them.

He attributed the practice to the failure of society and government to guarantee the safety of herders while in the forest.

He also berated his southern counterparts over the sweeping generalisation of Fulani ethnic group as criminals due to the anomaly of few.

Mohammed said criminal profiling of the herdsmen will not argur well for the peace and unity of the country.

He said “Because the Fulani man is practising the tradition of pastoralism, he has been exposed to the vagaries of the forest, cattle rustlers who carry guns, kill him and take away his commonwealth, which is the cows,” he said.

“He has no option than to carry AK47 because the society and the government are not protecting him, what is his fault; it’s the fault of the government and the people. You don’t criminalize all of them, because, in every tribe, there are criminals.”

Mohammed also flayed Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue, whom he accused of fuelling the criminalization of the Fulani tribe.