The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has warned the South-East governors against allocating lands to herders’ group, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) for grazing reserves.
IPOB in a statement issued on Saturday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, warned that allocating lands for grazing reserves under the guise of RUGA to the herders group would endanger the safety and security of South-East people.
IPOB calls on Southern and Middle Belt governors to refuse Miyetti Allah’s request for grazing reserves, questioning why the Fulani, claiming to be Nigerians, seek land in other states instead of using their own ancestral lands.
It warned that any governor conceding to the demand of MACBAN risks jeopardising future generations of the regions to mass slaughter and displacement.
IPOB also said that it rejects the Livestock Ministry’s covert RUGA initiative, saying that the vast Sambisa Forest was a suitable alternative for Fulani settlement.
Emphasising resistance to what it described as Fulani expansionism and the preservation of ancestral lands, IPOB warned against any attempts to alter demographics or seize territory of the South-East region.
IPOB called on Southern governors, especially those in the East, to protect future generations of the region by rejecting Miyetti Allah’s grazing reserve demand unequivocally, stressing that the South-East will remain off-limits to any form of Fulani settlement or grazing reserve.