Fulanis not Responsible for Killings in Nigeria, Says Cleric

A renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, has said that Fulanis are not responsible for the killings in some parts of the country, adding that the killings have no religious colorations.

Sheikh Bauchi spoke while fielding questions from newsmen Wednesday following the several clashes between alleged Fulani herdsmen and their host communities in some parts of the country.

He said: “Fulani are not new, they are not guests in Nigeria, they are well known as one of the respected tribes. If they are killers, they would have started the killings hundreds of years back not now, the killers disguised and hide with the intention to paint a particular tribe black. Fulani are known to have sticks and bow and arrow but you are saying the killers have gun. Who gave Fulani herdsmen gun? It’s the responsibilities of a government to fish out the culprits and punish them.”

The cleric said: “If anyone commits a crime, such person should be identified as a criminal and made to face the full wrath of the law. Fulani lived with people across the world, they live peacefully, why should they take up arms against the people they are living together with hundreds of years ago?”

According to him, “The basic responsibilities of every government is to protect life, to protect shedding of  blood, to protect human joints, to protect families, to protect properties and human dignity.

“The responsibilities of the citizenry is to  listen to constituted authorities, to cooperate with them by being law abiding in order to have sustainable peace across the country.”

The scholar said: “The spate of killings going on in some parts of the country has no religious colorations. The killings and the perpetrators were given a religious coloration in order to cause confusion. We have two dominant religions in Nigeria, Islam and Christianity, and the two religions do not allow anyone to shed the blood of anybody, to kill, to take away properties or burn the entire properties and such dastardly act  is not permissible in any religion.”

“Since we are now in a democracy, people should access the performance of their respective governments. If they perform well, they should vote for them again to continue but if they didn’t do well, you vote them out. They should vote people that they believe will improve their living condition at the expiration of their tenure and instead of taking arms they should make the best use of their permanent voters card to bring the changes they desire.

“Both Islam and Christian religions respect and protect all human lives, rights and public dignity and will not allow anyone to kill his fellow human beings,” he said.