The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, has faulted the demands by some Nigerians for the proscription of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN),
an association of herdsmen.
Many Nigerians have demanded the
proscription of the herdsmen association following the repeated attacks
carried out in many parts of the country. Recently, the
Secretary-General of the Christian Association of Nigeria CAN, Musa Asake, called for the proscription of the group by the Federal government.
Speaking at the first general assembly of the Interfaith Dialogue Forum For Peace IDFP which held in Abuja,
yesterday Thursday January 18th, the Sokoto monarch said the Miyetti
Allah association had no control of any Fulani man. He blamed the
security agents for the repeated killings that have been recorded in
different parts of the country.
“Miyetti Allah doesn’t control any Fulani man. Calling for
proscription of Miyetti Allah is equivalent to calling for the
proscription of other ethnic organisations like Afenifere, ACF, Ohanaeze
and others. It was formed 32 years ago and these crises were not there.
I am the patron and we have never asked Fulani herdsman to kill
anybody. Any Fulani man caught killing is a criminal and should be
treated as such. What are the security agencies doing? If they have
failed, they should accept that they have failed. What is going on is
not an ethnic problem; it’s not a religious problem, it’s an economic
problem. The CAN secretary general has said the Miyetti Allah Cattle
Breeders Association of Nigeria should be labelled a terrorist
organisation. MACBAN has no control of any Fulani. MACBAN is a body to
help the various Fulani organisations to come together and help
themselves. We have always said that Fulani do not carry arms. We have
always challenged security agencies to arrest these killers and bring
them to justice. MACBAN is an organisation that helps Fulani and not
makes them kill people” he said
Speaking further, the Sultan said
“What we need is to sit down and dialogue. As religious leaders, we
have to be very careful what we say, because it carries weight; our
followers listen to us very seriously. We must believe in one another,
trust and love ourselves because that is what our two major religions
advocate. We must continue to speak with one voice. We should not be
labeling everybody a criminal because his brother is a criminal. People
are saying, label Miyetti Allah a terrorist group. No, we are not
terrorists and can’t join terrorism.”
The monarch who is the President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, berated muslims who kill in the name of God
“You cannot be shedding blood in your country and expect God to be
happy with you. Taking a single life unjustly in Islam is akin to taking
the life of humanity. We cannot protect our religion by killing
people. Islam has been dragged to the mud. People make comments on
social media and people who do not know the truth simply believe it. It
is quite unfortunate. No matter what we do or say, we can never bring
back the lives of people lost in these senseless killings. When will
this killings and madness stop? What are the security agencies doing? We
can challenge our leaders with a united voice. If we challenge our
leaders in one voice, we can move forward.”