Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed says nobody, not even his counterparts, has the power to chase Fulani herders from forests in their states.
He said this at the Press Week Celebration organised by Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union Journalists, Bauchi State Council.
Governor of Ondo had issued a quit notice to herders in the state from the forest reserve, citing insecurity as the motive for his action.
His decision later ignited calls by some Yoruba groups led by one Sunday Igboho against Fulani herdsmen to vacate the South West states, which later led to physical attacks against the hersders.
But Mohammed said: “Nobody owns any forest, the forest is owned by Nigeria; under section 23, 24 and 25, of the constitution, every Nigerian is free to stay anywhere.”
The governor also accused his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom, of a bad media campaign against the Fulani ethnic group.
He said the situation has worsened the herder-farmer crisis, accusing him of criminalizing the entire Fulani across the country.
Mohammed said: “The governor that is most wrong is the governor of Benue State, my brother and colleague Governor Samuel Ortom; he started all these.
“If you don’t accommodate other tribes, we are also accommodating your tribes in Bauchi and other places.”
“We have so many Tiv people farming in Alkaleri, in Tafawa Balewa, farming in Bogoro local government areas; has anybody told them to go? We have not; because it’s their own inalienable rights to be there.
“We have Yoruba people in Bauchi, for over 150 years, even before the birth of Nigeria; some of them have risen to become permanent Secretaries in Bauchi, in Gombe and in Borno.”
