Malik Yahya/
Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, has justified the use of AK-47 Assault Rifle by Fulani herders. He said they carried the gun for self-defense because they were being attacked by cattle rustlers.
Mohammed blasted his counterpart in Benue State, Samuel Ortom, over his handling of the farmer-herder clashes which had led to loss of lives.
He spoke at the closing ceremony of the 2021 Press Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Bauchi State Council, on Thursday at the Command Guest House.
The governor in his keynote address on the theme, ‘The Role of the Media in Promoting Peace in Nigeria,’ commended journalists in the state for their accurate and balanced reporting and for promoting peace in Nigeria.
He faulted the Notice to Quit given to Fulani herders in some southern states, particularly Ondo, pointing out that the moves of the “southern governors are wrong”.
Mohammed said, “On the herders-farmers clashes, you have seen what our colleagues in the South-West are doing and some of them in South-East. Some of us told them with all modesty and humility – you are wrong.
“But the person that is most wrong is the Governor of Benue State, my brother and my colleague, Governor (Samuel) Ortom; he started all these. If you don’t accommodate other tribes, we are also accommodating your people in Bauchi and other places.
“We have so many Tiv people working and farming in Alkaleri, farming in Tafawa Balewa, farming in Bogoro Local Government Area of Bauchi. Has anyone asked them to go? We have not, because it is their constitutional rights to be there.
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