The leader of a delegation of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigerian(MACBAN) to the Defence Headquarters, Senator Dagiri Alkali, has said Fulanis moved into new territories in the country because they had been forced out of their territories in the North. Alkali while speaking in defence of Fulani herdsmen, who have allegedly been involved in serial killings in various communities in the country, said: “When the reserves and forest were gazetted and reserved for cattle breeders, this incident was not there; but the increase in population has now wiped out the entire grazing reserves in this country; 400 and something of them all wiped out. And you have a population of about 20 million cows. Where do you keep them? And every one of us likes to eat meat.
“This is a venture that over 20 million people are engaged in. And nobody cares to know what the causes of this problem are. Presently, you know the case of Boko Haram. They attacked and decapitated the population of Fulani in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe and some parts of Taraba. The cattle rustlers have displaced the Fulani in Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau and Benue and in some parts of Kogi. Millions of cattle have been taken from these herdsmen. So when somebody says a Fulani man killed somebody, I wonder why? How? It’s only a poor man that fights. But you, as the military people, you know self-defence is an art. In the military, if you are attacked you have to defend yourself. You have been squeezed; you have to find a way to survive.”
