Fulani herdsmen in southern part of Nigeria have been asked to disregard the recent call by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) asking them to return to the northern part of the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who made this call in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, questioned the intentions of the NEF and the other so-called leaders in delving into issues with “unsolicited, ill-intentioned advice.”
The President said, “All citizens of Nigeria are free to move and live within any part of the country they please, whether or not they are originally from there.
“In line with our country’s constitution, the government of Nigeria and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will protect citizens of Nigeria wherever they find themselves.
“No one has the right to ask anyone or group to depart from any part of the country, whether north, south, east or west.”
Mr Buhari said the northern group has “no one’s authority to make such pronouncements.”
“The polarising role of the Northern Elders Forum and all those other groups dabbling into issues of security to score cheap political points has for long been a sore point in Nigeria’s body polity.
“They should not be allowed to mislead anyone, least of all the Fulani herders.
“The Buhari administration is fully devoted to finding a lasting solution to the herder-farmer clashes in different parts of Nigeria- one that would be acceptable to all the parties involved,” he said.
The President, therefore, calls on all Nigerians to help keep the peace in the country.
Adedapo Adesanya