State governments must not allow tribal groups to form Vigilante — SOKAPU
By: Femi Mustapha
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has called on all State governments in the Country not to allow any tribal group to form its Vigilante group, saying It is a direct line to insurgency and separatism.
The SOKAPU Spokesman, Luka Binniyat stated this in a statement made available to the Media in Kaduna yesterday.
The Union reacting to the plan by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a powerful socio-cultural Fulani group, to form its vigilante group, said Fulani, even as a large ethnic group, do not have an exclusive state in almost all the states of Nigeria, and are certainly not natives of Benue State or anywhere in the Middle Belt.
The statement added that any more attempts, therefore, to allow the Fulani to form, arm, kit, and operate an armed wing so brazenly, is to also approve other ethnic groups to do the same.
“In other words, SOKAPU is saying that a civil war may spark off if Fulani and other ethnic groups obtain arms for the exclusive reason of protecting themselves as groups under various independent commands.
“President Mohammadu Buhari must not take this lightly, even though he is fond of glossing over serious matters of security concerns.
“For the avoidance of doubt, SOKAPU condemns the formation of Fulani Vigilante force. The Fulani have been accused of horrific crimes in many communities in Nigeria, given the truth that not all Fulani are outlaws.
“It is for the pervasive bloody crimes that criminal elements of Fulani have been accused of that spurred some state governments to create their Vigilante outfits.
“With over 200 Southern Kaduna Communities sacked and displaced by armed herdsmen and allied criminals after hundreds were killed and more wounded, the sight of an armed Fulani vigilante force on our soil will be a very provocative act that will push other tribes to form the same. ” the statement reads.
