Alhaji Saleh Bayari, the leader of coalition of Fulani herdsmen groups in Nigeria, has appealed to the Federal Government to grant unconditional amnesty to their members detained over various allegations in the country.
NAN reports that Bayari made the call at a National Delegates’ meeting of coalition of Fulani Associations from 36 states of the federation and the FCT held in Sokoto on Sunday.
He said the federal government should consider amnesty to Fulani people accused of crimes as it was done to agitators in the oil rich Niger Delta region.
“About 3,000 Fulani clans are in detention at different security formations in the country.
“Poverty, neglect and poor treatment among fellow Nigerians are mostly causes that forced those accused persons to engage in dastardly acts,” Bayari said.
He explained that about 2,500 pastoralists were killed while 3.7 million livestock were either killed or rustled from the herdsmen at various states of the federation, the situation that subjected members to untold hardships.
He pointed out that granting them amnesty would allow leaders to unite their fellows and partner with authorities to sanction any member found engaging in any unlawful activities.
In the communiqué read by Bayari at end of the event, the coalition commended Amnesty International 2018 report that said about 3, 641 persons lost their lives in farmers/headsmen conflicts in Nigeria.
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