5th February, 2021
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Critic, Femi Fani-Kayode has backed Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State’s criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s lethargy and failure to call Fulani herdsmen terrorising Nigerians to order.
Fani-Kayode said Buhari must disarm these herdsmen quickly before things got out of hand.
He said Ortom had spoken the minds of 90 percent of Nigerians, lamenting that people were hungry and fed up.
Fani-Kayode stated that the tension in the land was real, saying that since 2015, he had warned this would happen but that few listened.
“Gov. Ortom has spoken the minds of 90% of Nigerians. People are angry & fed up & the tension is real. Since 2015 I warned this would happen but few listened.
“Buhari must disarm these herdsmen quickly before things get out of hand & the people rise up to defend themselves,” he said.
On Thursday, Ortom had said Buhari is the President of Nigeria, not the President of the Fulani tribe where he hails from.
Ortom also noted that Buhari pledged to be the President of everybody and nobody in 2015 and therefore should serve the interest of all Nigerians.
He said, “When I talk, I was being castigated, I was being vilified, nothing bad that was not said against me, I am this and that but the reality is here and it is not just happening in Benue State today, it is happening in the entire country.
“Why is the Federal Government being silent about these Fulani herdsmen? When will Federal Government come out and criticise and arrest herdsmen carrying AK-47? When are they going to do that? Are we second (-class) citizens in this country? Why (is) the Fulani men superior to a Tiv man? I am not their slave, a Benue man is not slave to any Fulani man in this country.
“We stand for justice, equity and fairness. Whatever is happening to a Fulani man should also happen to a Tiv man. That was why I called the Federal Government to licence me and many others to have guns, to have AK-47 too. Because if I have my AK-47 and a Fulani man is coming there, he knows that I have and he has, then we can fight each other.
“But you can’t disarm me and arm a Fulani man. This is not right, the Federal Government is biased, it is unfair. The failure in security is caused by Federal Government.”