Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Friday formed a herder
rights organisation known as the Nomadic Rights Concern, NORIC.
Gumi said NORIC was created to protect and defend herders in
the country.
Speaking in Kaduna, Gumi said the Nigerian government should
address the herders issue in the same way it handled the Niger Delta youths.
He insisted that the nomadic Fulani had been victims of
banditry.
The controversial Islamic scholar reiterated the need for a
Ministry of Nomadic Affairs.
According to Gumi: “What I expect from the government is
nothing less than what it did when the Niger Delta youths were vandalising the
economy.
“These people are also disturbing the Nigerian agriculture
which is the backbone of the national economy.
“The least they need is the Ministry of Nomadic Affairs that
will look into their affairs.
“The issue that stands out glaringly is that pastoralists
are both victims and villains largely because their voices are muffled by an
unimaginable level of illiteracy and lack of know-how.
“Their rights are trampled upon or denied, leading to the
much avoidable violence in the Nigerian society. Thus, the necessity to
establish a non-governmental and apolitical organisation dedicated to peace and
harmonious coexistence between various groups and ethnicities, especially
amongst headers and farmers.”
Gumi had always advocated a soft landing for herders in the
country.
Last year, the Islamic scholar had asked the Federal
Government to grant herders linked to banditry amnesty.
He asked the Federal Government to grant herders amnesty as
it did to Niger Delta militants.
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