Southern and Middle Belt Leaders have called for a probe of the

Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Lawal Musa

Daura, over his claim that that most of the sophisticated weapons in the

hands of Fulani herdsmen are from the armouries of security agencies.

The demand was made in a statement signed on behalf of the groups by Mr.

Yinka Odumakin after a meeting of the groups in Abuja at the weekend.

At the meeting, the leaders concluded that President Muhammadu Buhari has

not lived up to the expectations. They observed that the President has

kept mute over the killings by herdsmen in Benue State and has visited

Nasarawa and Adamawa states, while ignoring Benue State.

The leaders said they remain disturbed by the allegation that solders

drafted to Benue State under “Operation Cat Dance” were circulating

leaflets branding the Tiv cattle rustlers, an indication of an attempt to

turn victims into villains and erode their capacity for self-defence. In

addition, the meeting also expressed displeasure that Internally Displaced

Persons (IDP) camps in Benue State have been treated with discriminatory

neglect compared to other IDP camps around the country.

As such, the meeting called on President Buhari to immediately stop the

killings in Benue and other parts of the country by disarming all armed

herdsmen carrying illegal weapons and fish out those behind killings for

prosecution. It also warned against plans to impose emergency rule in

Benue State, saying that a move in the defunct Western Region had dire

consequences.

The meeting equally demanded an end to open cattle grazing, saying

ranching is the modern method. It warned all state governors in the South

to reject cattle colonies.

The leaders also demanded an immediate remodeling of the country’s

security architecture, saying the current template on which 16 out of the

17 security chiefs are from a section of the country is a violation of the

Federal Character principle. The meeting frowned at the culture of

underage voters, which it said was rife in in the recent council

election in Kano State, and demanded a judicial review of the current

register of voters before new elections.

“Before further elections are held with the current INEC register, we

demand a judicial probe of the voters registry by a panel to be headed by

a retired Supreme Court Judge and members drawn from INEC-registered

political parties, civil society groups and the National Democratic

Institute for international representation,” said the Southern and Middle

Belt leaders.

The South-South delegation to the meeting was led by Mr. E K Clark, while

Mr. Ayo Adebanjo led the South-West delegation. The South-East and Middle

Belt contingents were led by Messrs. John Nwodo and Bala Takaya

respectively.