A former military administrator of Plateau State, Real Admiral Bitrus Atukum (rtd) has called on the Federal Government to declare the Fulani herdsmen attacking communities in the state as terrorists.
He said the target of the assailants is to keep the citizenry under perpetual poverty.
Atukum equally accused the killer herdsmen of “economic sabotage”, noting that they attack mostly when the planting and harvest seasons are approaching.
He equally observed that another reason for the attacks is purely land grabbing.
The retired army officer lamented that government is fighting insecurity on the Plateau with kid gloves.
Atukum’s comments followed recent killings in Bokkos LGA of Plateau State.
Arogidigba Global Journal recalls that over 50 people were recently killed, thousands displaced and their means of livelihood destroyed in some communities of Bokkos LGA.
“The endless attacks on villages by the Fulani is a strategic act of terrorism, as such government should note this and label them as terrorists who are not only at war with armless and harmless civilians, but the country as a whole,” he said.
Atukum called on the citizens to defend themselves against the aggressors to protect their ancestral lands.
The former military administrator also decried last Tuesday’s press briefing held in Kaduna by one Garba Abdullahi Mohammed, a leader of Fulani groups.
“All these details given at that press briefing can be verified; government has relevant information as to where it can start the investigation.
“You cannot allow people under the pretext of the freedom of speech to be making this kind of statements, few days after the killings in Bokkos. These are unprovoked attacks!
“In the past, they used to say farmer-herder clash. How can you have clash in someone’s bedroom?
“Government is fighting this insecurity on the Plateau with kid gloves.
“I would have expected that on the Plateau, where you have hills and small mountains that are being inhibited by these Fulani herdsmen; what is the difficulty in ordering the army to and fish them out there?
“These people come down from these hills, commit havoc and disappear, and that is where they hide their weapons.
“So I just believe in addition to what the government is doing, they can do more,” he stressed.