Kingsley Moghalu, former presidential candidate of the Young Democratic Party (YDP), has submitted that the current stigmatization of Fulanis in the country is because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s failure to address the impunity of killer herdsmen and bandits.
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In a statement issued on Monday, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recalled his experience with other countries when he was as a senior United Nations official in the 1990s.
Moghalu also condemned the recent killings of innocent Nigerians of Northern extraction in Oyo State.
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He said if left unchecked, the crisis can lead to widespread ethnic conflict.
He urged Buhari to end the scourge of killer herdsmen and banditry in the country.
“The failure of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to end the menace of criminal herdsmen and bandits throughout Nigeria (in both northern and southern states) has led to the stigmatization of the Fulani and other ethnic groups for the crimes of a few,” he said.
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“The failure of our authorities to deploy effective security and law enforcement action against these criminals has also created a dangerous vacuum that is increasingly filled, unsurprisingly, by self-defense measures by several communities across the country.
“This could lead to reprisals based on ethnic profiling. In this context, I deplore the recent killings of innocent Nigerians of Northern extraction in Oyo State.
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“As a Nigerian who has played a role in international efforts to rebuild several failed states after destructive internal conflicts including Rwanda after the genocide in 1994, I know firsthand where such trends can lead. I call upon President Muhammadu Buhari to act decisively to end the scourge of killer herdsmen and bandits.
“It is a clear augury of state failure when, in any part of Nigeria, terrorists of any description can attack defenseless civilians without consequence. Clearly, the Nigerian state has lost its monopoly of the use of force.
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“This is time for leadership by President Buhari. No one is, or should be, above the laws of Nigeria. We simply cannot have a country in which the authorities act decisively to squash peaceful protests by citizens but appear impotent against terrorists and terrorism.”
