RUGA: Arewa group insists on establishment of Fulani settlement in Benue, others

A group, the Arewa Defenders Forum, ADF, has thrown its support to the Coalition of Northern Youths’ stand on the need to have the Ruga settlements in the country.

The forum said the need for the Ruga settlement was to reduce the mobility of cattle breeders, so that the terrorists sponsored to destabilize the North would finally be exposed.

Nuruddeen Alkasim, National President of Arewa Defenders Forum, in a statement issued after an emergency meeting in Kaduna, said, “We support the Coalition of Northern Youth Groups’ stand on the need to have the Ruga settlements in order to reduce the mobility of cattle breeders, so that the terrorists sponsored to destabilize the North would finally be exposed for who they really are.”

The forum cautioned Chief John Nnia Nwodo, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide to be mindful of his religious propaganda against the Buhari presidency and Northern youths.

The group declared that Nwodo is a forgotten, frustratred politician desperate for recognition in the media by hiding behind his hatred against the North through open, vicious attack on the Ruga policy and insulting the North as a people.

ADF expressed disappointment over the Ohanaeze leader’s claims of alleged Islamization and Fulanization of the country, stressing that the Ruga proposal was designed to bring an end to suspicious killings using the name of Fulanis and their Northern identity for political convenience.

“Let someone tell Nwodo that it was the same Fulani he so hated that once picked him up as a nonentity, full of envy for the region and made him Minister. This is a clear indication that Nwodo is an ingrate and a willing tool in a calculated agenda of destroying the North, riding on religious and ethnic sentiments,” the forum noted.

The group said Nwodo has only succeeded in exposing himself as one of those Southeast elites who have lost touch with reality; who do not want an end to the massive killing of Northerners by people masquerading as herdsmen, in an ochestrated agenda to kill agriculture, threaten Food Security of the region, its safety and generally run down the Northern economy.

The group also took exception to the call by the Ohanaeze leader that all Igbo should be ready to defend themselves, adding that by this, the Ohanaeze leader has made a call for resort to arms.

It urged the Federal Government to keep an eye on all Southern elites opposed to ending the killings in the North and investigate if they have no links to the circulation of arms used in killings and razing of villages.

Turning to another former minister and virulent critic of the Ruga policy, the ADF said, “We were not surprised by Fani Kayode’s unguarded utterances because it has always been his stand on issues to do with Northern interest.

“Virtually every Federal Government policy capable of stabilizing the North or promoting justice, fairness and national unity becomes the butt of Fani Kayode’s
vitriolic media attacks.

“It was therefore not surprising to us that the coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has become his new target of media bashing.”

The group also argued thus, “Coming from the only part of Nigeria that has so far enjoyed more than enough economic and political patronage, with our son, President Buhari in charge of the reigns of power, it is in fact shameful, and
veiled hypocrisy that Fani Kayode would openly insult the North, which gave them unlimited access to opportunities as a strategy for promoting national
unity and stability.”

The forum warned the Ohanaeze leader and what it called his collaborators, notably Fani Kayode, to end their politically-motivated, senseless campaigns and allow the Federal Government proceed with its agenda for
peace through the proposed Ruga policy.

“We dare say that this is one beautiful policy that has thus far got the total support of prominent Nigerians, including groups of elder statesmen like the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and scores of civil society groups from the South,” the ADF explained.

The group warned that unless something was done about persons or groups opposed to ending the killings in the North, it presupposes that there are hidden interests that are against a viable solution to the region’s multiple security and other challenges.

“While we warn these three serial attackers of both Northern and national interests, we urge the Federal Government to bring back that proposal to the table, because it is a window of opportunity for job creation, food security and ending the mysterious killings in the North, for which the media is being willy- nilly used, in order to portray or openly tie the Fulani and their cows together as the major threat to national security. This is pedantic, pedestrian and totally unacceptable,” the forum advised.