Amidst the ongoing debate over President Bola Tinubu’s directive for governors to allocate land for Fulani Herdsmen grazing, the Middle Belt Patriots have urged him to surrender his Lagos land.
The group, expressing concern over the implications of ceding land to herders, advised state governors to resist pressure from the Federal Government.
In response to Tinubu’s call during the agricultural mechanisation revolution launch in Minna, Niger State, the Middle Belt Patriots, through their Director of Media and Strategic Communications, Steven Kefas, condemned the directive. They warned of exacerbating security issues in the middle belt and across the nation if such demands were met.
The Middle Belt Patriots criticized the Federal Government’s persistent prioritization of pastoralists’ interests over indigenous populations. They emphasized their determination to resist any measures aimed at dispossessing them of their ancestral lands, denouncing the grazing land directive as provocative.
The group urged leaders in the Middle Belt region to disregard the federal directive, emphasizing that conceding more land to grazers would only escalate ethnic clashes and further endanger fragile peace. They highlighted the disproportionate impact of armed Fulani militias on communities, citing instances of displacement and humanitarian crises.
The Middle Belt Patriots underscored the private nature of cattle grazing as a business enterprise and called for lawful means of acquiring land through negotiation with willing landowners. They highlighted the plight of indigenous populations, particularly in Taraba State, where numerous villages have been displaced due to herder-related violence.
Emphasizing the need for immediate government intervention to halt illegal land grabs, the Middle Belt Patriots pledged to resist such measures through legal channels. They called for the protection of indigenous populations from further dispossession and urged a shift towards lawful means of land acquisition for grazing purposes.
