The Defence Headquarters, (DHQ), has said that the violent attacks on local communities and killings of farmers in Plateau, Benue and other States in the Middle-Belt are perpetrated by foreign herders.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major-Gen. Markus Kangye, stated this on Thursday while fielding questions from newsmen on the identities of armed herders attacking farming communities in Nigeria.
Recall that communities in the Plateau and Benue valley have come under a series of attacks by armed herders, who have killed hundreds of farmers and rendered thousands homeless, most of whom are now taking refuge in internally-displaced persons (IDP) camps.
The DHQs’ position seems to corroborate the recent statement of Benue State governor, Hyacinth Alia, who said the attackers are foreign herders taking advantage of ECOWAS protocol on free movement of persons and animals to invade communities.
General Kangye, who was responding to questions on the true identities of the assailants, said some of the arrested assailants spoke a foreign variant of the Hausa language, “Well, when you hear them talk in some instances, you’ll be able to decipher whether these people are from here or not.
“For example, if I speak Hausa and my brother from the South-East speaks Hausa, you’ll know that his Hausa is a borrowed one. Hausa language, like any other language, has different versions and intonations. If somebody from Sokoto, for instance, speaks Hausa and my friend from Katsina speaks Hausa, you’ll notice some differences; just like if somebody from Kano speaks, and somebody from my State does too, you will see a marked difference, for that matter. So, the Hausa spoken in Nigeria has differences from the Hausa spoken in Mali; as well as the Hausa spoken in the Central African Republic and the Hausa spoken in Ghana.
“So, when we arrest these herders and terrorists, even the way they speak and appear, it is clear to see; and even the hair will tell you that this person is not from Nigeria. “So, one will also admit that many of those terrorising our people are foreigners, even though some of them are also Nigerians”, he further said.
He noted that even though some Nigerian herders graze their cattle and encroach on farms, leading to clashes with farmers and farming communities, “but most of the violence and incessant killings you are hearing in some parts of this country are perpetrated by those who find their way into the porous borders of our country”.
On the way out, he said, “We must collaborate with other agencies whose responsibility is to ensure those who come into Nigeria are accounted for. There are agencies responsible for that, so we have to collaborate, and that is why we say we work within a joint environment to ensure that we address insecurity.”
Legal experts, however, say the ECOWAS protocol does not permit the indiscriminate movement of cattle across the West African sub-region.
