We know those killing in herders

Barr Mohammed Bello Mustapha, is a former national youth leader of the Buhari Organisation and governorship candidate of the CPC in Taraba State. He also contested for the Senate seat under the APC in 2015. In this interview, he speaks on the new trend of killings, especially in the South-east, under the name of Fulani herdsmen. Excerpts
Taraba is one of the states witnessing protracted clashes in recent times and herders names are often associated with such incidents. What is your take on this?
Well, it is unfortunate that in this country, people are not interested in investigation. The fact is that Fulanis are the most peaceful people you can ever find on the surface of this earth. 
Why did you say so?
‎A Fulani man is, ordinarily, somebody who does not even care about the government or any other person. What he cares about is his cattle and how he lives with the cattle. He moves around with them in the bush. He is not doing it for profit, no, that is his life. So, how do you expect somebody who moves around in the bush with his cattle to attack his host community? Did it sound normal? I conducted an investigation recently and realised that there are certain things that are happening that people are not bothered to know the facts of why they happened. They only label the Funalis as killers. There are cattle markets in Taraba and Adamawa states- I visited five cattle markets and there is somebody called Adejo and another called Reuben, who came to buy hundreds of cattle. And since you are not a Fulani man, and you don’t have any business with cattle, a Fulanbi man would want to know why you buy these cattle. They (Adejo and Reuben) said they are Roman Catholics, that they slaughter the cattle at Christmas and other activities. And when they were asked whether they have people that would look after the cattle before the Christmas, they said they would do it themselves. So, it is our belief that people who are sabotaging the Buhari-led administration, from all indications, are the ones causing trouble. Now that the Boko Haram is technically defeated, some people are coming up with another problem that will confront the administration so that it will lose its focus, and fail to realise the change it preaches.

Which markets did you visit?
I visited Mubi Cattle Market, Ngrole Cattle Market, both in Adamawa State, Iware Cattle Market and Mambila Cattle Market in Taraba State. I was told same story in the same markets.

They called the same names of people who bought many cattle?
Yes, the same names.

From where did Adejo and Reuben come from?
The cattle traders only wanted to know their names and what they wanted to do with the cattle. But, they didn’t accompany them to see where they were going to. 

Do you have an idea of the number of cattle they bought in each of the markets?
It is more than 500 cattle. This happened between February and March.

How did they transport the cattle?
They brought trailers that moved them to the East. They were the ones making phone calls for the trailers to come. I equally wanted to get to the roots of the matter by finding out from the drivers of the trailers, but they said they don’t have any link with the drivers that normally transport cattle. The buyers asked the drivers to come after the transactions were concluded, in cash.

What did you deduce from that? 
My concern is that ‎there are people bent on sabotaging the present government. They think that if they allow Buhari’s administration to continue, particularly, with the anti-corruption war, they may end up behind the bars. So, they want to create more problems than Buhari’s government can solve. What bothers us is the issue of the farmers and herdsmen clashes. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has cattle. He is a herdsman too. I served in the East, I have friends, the sarkin shanu of Okigwe is an Igbo man, he has cattle and, he is, therefore, a herdsman. Criminality and criminal activities do not know any bounds. Criminality does not know any religion or tribe. People should stop associating Fulani with criminality, just because the Fulani lacks access to media to advance their course or make their voices to be heard. Another thing is that Buhari himself is a Fulani man, so, they want to use this opportunity to make him fight his own people. 

In the last couple of weeks, we witnessed several attacks in the South-east and South-western parts of the country, with accusing fingers pointed at the Fulanis. What do you have to say about this?
I told you that it is not only the Fulanis that are herdsmen, ‎ anybody can own cattle and be described as herdsman. Like I said earlier, those cattle that were bought in Taraba and Adamawa were moved down to the East. So, I would not be surprised if they were the same cattle used to cause confusion there. The Enugu State commissioner of police cleared the air, saying that investigation showed him that the Fulanis had nothing to do with that. All that the miscreants want to achieve is for Buhari to fight his people and lose focus on anti-corruption war. Kidnapping started in the East, everybody knows this, but nobody has ever ascribed kidnapping to Igbos. Vandals and militants, where are they? They are in the Niger Delta. But nobody ever associated vandalism to the Ijaws, who are the main ethnic group in the Niger Delta. Everybody knows how armed robbery and burglary started in the West. Everybody knows how it became prevalent in Lagos, but nobody ever pushed it to the Yorubas.

What do you want government to do about Adejo and Ruben?
I want the government to investigate what they do with the cattle they bought. 

But what makes it unusual? People from the South go to Maiduguri, Taraba and other states in the North to buy cows?
This one is different because those you are talking about used to come in groups, not one or two people. They are marketers. But, in this case, it is just two people and they said they were going to share the cows to their people for festivity. Some people want to ruin this government. They are a cabal. They have membership from the military and politicians, particularly those that benefitted from the old government.
But the allegation is that the Fulanis encroach on farmlands...
Not all the Fulanis encroach on farms. The majority of them know their routes and they follow them.

What was your motivation for investigation?  
I wanted to establish whether the Fulanis are guilty of causing crisis.

Which other states did you go to, apart from Adamawa and Taraba?
I visited Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba and Benue states. ‎

Do you think an Igbo or a Yoruba man will take arms against his own people and blame the Fulani?
Yes, they can do worse than that. Don’t forget that what the commissioner of police in Enugu State said. When Senator Emmanuel Bwacha said on the floor of the Senate that Boko Haram and Fulanis are creating havoc in Taraba, especially in Taraba Central, which he represents, about 12 people were arrested with arms and ammunition around the area but none of them was Fulani. They are now in Jalingo prison. So, you can see how people are trying to label Fulanis as killers and or troublemakers.

When the Boko Haram started, the authorities saw it as regional or tribal problem. Don’t you think we may have similar problem with the herders’ issue?
The Boko Haram, as you rightly pointed out, started like a child’s play. I am not saying this matter should not be investigated or it should be left the way it is. No, I am saying that nobody should blame Fulanis yet, until investigation proves them guilty.