The Muslim Rights Concern, has urged Nigerians not to stigmatise the Fulani as there are bad eggs among all ethnic groups in the country.
MURIC said it was giving the advice against the backdrop of the story of a Fulani kidnapper, Usman Hasan, who had abducted and killed a farmer in Solalu village, Oyo State, after collecting ransom.
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He had escaped to Ogun State where he tried to form another kidnapping gang by recruiting fellow Fulanis. But the Fulani persons whom he tried to recruit reported him to the police.
In the statement signed by its leader, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC said: “Here we have an example of good Fulanis.We need more of such actions from the Fulani living in all parts of the country. The Fulani must work in concert with their host communities and the security agencies to expose bad eggs among them. This role should not be restricted to the Fulani alone. Security must be everybody’s concern. All tribes must be involved. The Igbo, Yoruba and Tiv must ensure that the bad eggs among them are exposed.
“Focusing on the Fulani alone will only worsen the security challenges facing us as a people. It will enable the real criminals who are non-Fulanis to get away with their crime. Some may actually hang their atrocities on the Fulani even though they are the culprits and they know it.
“A good example of non-Fulani criminals who try to pin their crime on Fulanis is the recent case of Samuel Udoetok Wills and John Orji. These are two Nigerians recently sentenced to death in Ghana for kidnapping and killing four girls. During negotiation for ransom, Samuel gave his name as Buba Muhammed. He said he was a Fulani herdsman. So the security agencies began hunting for Fulanis in the area. But after he was arrested, the police discovered that his Nigerian passport had the name Samuel Udoetok Wills and it became clear that he had tried to hide behind the façade of the wrong public perception about Fulani herdsmen.
“There is an urgent need to de-escalate tension particularly on the demonization of the Fulani people. Criminals exist in all tribes just as great men exist in all of them. The great Zik of Africa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igbo man, was one of the greatest minds Nigeria ever produced. Chinua Achebe authored some of the best literature materials in circulation today. He was an Igbo man. But Evans the kidnapper came up as the black sheep in the Igbo family.
“Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the best president Nigeria never had. He liberated millions of the Yoruba people from the shackles of ignorance. Professor Wole Soyinka is today a household name, not only among the Yoruba but throughout the world. The greatest symbol of democracy in Nigeria, Chief M. K. O. Abiola, was a Yoruba. The greatest human rights giant in Nigeria, late Gani Fawehinmi, was a Yoruba man. So is the greatest human rights activist and living legend, Femi Falana. Yet Babatunde Folorunso and Oyenusi, the most feared and ruthless armed robbers of their time, were of Yoruba stock.
“The Fulani are also of no less noble stuff. They have produced men of timber, calibre and caterpillar in all fields. Prof. Iya Abubakar, a Fulani, had 1st Class in Mathematics from the University of Ibadan. He proceeded to the United Kingdom for his doctorate degree in Mathematics and became the first northerner to get a Ph.D. in that discipline. Professor Jibril Aminu is also a great Fulani academic, politician and public administrator. Alhaji Ahmed Joda is a well-known cardiologist and former Federal Permanent Secretary, a former chairman, National Communication Commission, (NCC) as well as current Pro-Chancellor of Bell University, Ota. The list is endless. Therefore, Usman Hassan, the Fulani kidnapper and a few bad eggs among Fulani herders, should not be used as index figures of the tribe.
“Nigerians should stop castigating any tribe, whether Igbo, Fulani or Yoruba. We are all great people and we should love one another instead of hurling stigma all over the place. Let us spread charity from the North to the South, from the East to the West. Let us eschew malice, bitterness, pettiness, envy and jealousy. The sky is wide enough for every Nigerian who has wings to fly.
“Our current security challenges will melt away like ice cream in the hot sun if we all admit that there are bad eggs among us and demonstrate the will to expose them instead of stigmatizing the Fulani in our midst. There are many examples of distractions caused by false allegations against the Fulani people. These false allegations enable the real criminals to get away.”
