Killings: No proof Fulani herdsmen are foreigners –NIS

The Nigeria Immigration Service has said there is no evidence that the herdsmen wreaking havoc and killing farmers and villagers across the country are foreigners. The NIS Public Relations Officer, Ekpedeme King, said the NIS does not profile people based on their ethnicity when coming into Nigeria. He said, “There is no evidence that the herdsmen are foreigners and the immigration service doesn’t profile immigrants based on their ethnicity. So, the NIS cannot say whether the herdsmen are Nigerians or not because nobody has produced them for us to profile them. “We are at the borders and we have not seen any herdsman coming into the country. We have our men at the borders and they are doing their job. So far, what we have heard is speculation that they are from foreign countries, but no one has profiled them to know their identities, but it is not impossible that they could be foreigners.”

He averred that it is the responsibility of port health officials to check immigrants with animals to certify the health of their cattle. King said, “We don’t ask if they (immigrants) are herdsmen or not and we don’t see people coming in with cattle. We have not received reports of people coming in with cattle. When you see someone coming in with animals, we have relevant agencies to check the state of the animals. If you are importing or exporting animals, like in other countries, the port health officials are in charge of that.” He, however, said the NIS lacked the capacity to man the 1,400 illegal routes in Nigeria.

King said, “There are over 1,400 illegal routes, but the border patrol guards cannot be posted to the illegal routes because they are illegal, you cannot post an official to go and work at a place that is declared illegal, those places are not recognized as border posts, but the border guards patrol the periphery of the borders and prevent illegal people from coming in. “We have patrol bases, the guards patrol from one base to the other. So, what we do is that we patrol the border areas, the government approved border bases for us.” However, the Federal Government has said that it will collaborate with the neighboring countries to contain the needless violence by the rampaging Fulani herdsmen.

The government said it would consolidate on its existing cordial relationship with Niger Republic, Chad, and Cameroon to curb the influx of herdsmen and other violent elements into Nigeria and improve security around the nation’s borders. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bolaji Akinremi, said Nigeria has a working relationship with the neighboring countries on regional security of lives and properties. “Of course, we have a cordial relationship with our neighbours and a robust partnership on security and this issue (herdsmen attacks) is a security challenge which the partnership will take cognizance of,” Akinremi said. Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Republic of Benin had on June 11, 2015 formed a military coalition to fight Boko Haram.

The force, which was established with a budget of $30m, comprises of 8,700 troops from the five countries. Some Fulani herdsmen on Monday attacked a community in the Uzo-Uwani area of Enugu State and killed no fewer than 48 persons. The herdsmen were said to have attacked the community despite an earlier intelligence report that the attackers were lurking around and the pledge by the police to prevent the attack. The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed the Federal Government’s intention to tackle the herdsmen rampage. Abubakar said on Thursday in Abuja that with the plans being put in place by the military, the threat posed by the herdsmen would be drastically reduced.

On the issue that some Boko Haram members escaping from the military bombardment in the North-East could be involved in the killings by herdsmen, the military spokesperson said such insurgents had always been apprehended in collaboration with the security agencies. Abubakar said, “While one will not divorce it (herdsmen rampage) completely from the Boko Haram, the military and the security agencies will continue to synergies to arrest such people.” He vowed that the military would do everything to contain the reprehensible killings by the herdsmen and ensure that those behind it are prosecuted.

Abubakar stressed that the issue of the security of lives and property was a responsibility of the Armed Forces, adding that  the security agencies would not condone such criminal conducts from the herdsmen and other criminal gangs. There have been insinuations that the marauding herdsmen are aliens and not Nigerians. But Abubakar claimed that the herdsmen could be foreigners. He explained that while the issue of people coming into the country to carry out the heinous acts could not be completely ruled out because of the nation’s porous borders, the relevant security agencies were doing their best.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency on Friday said that residents of Ukpabi Nimbo village in Enugu State had deserted their community following Monday’s attack. NEMA said its personnel had begun on-the-spot assessment of the destruction carried out in the community by the herdsmen.