From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Middle Belt leader and Professor of Theology and social ethics, Prof Yusuf Turaki, yesterday, alleged that the Federal Government knows and pays kidnappers, bandits and other criminal elements operating in the country.
Prof. Turaki spoke at one-day peace and security summit, organised by Kaduna State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which held at ECWA Goodnews church, Narayi, Kaduna with the theme “Nigeria’s insecurity: The church’s response in the 21st century”.
In his keynote address, Turaki noted that violence has taken over the country to the extent that every segment of the society now speaks violence, adding, “Everybody is overwhelmed with violence”.
He disagreed with politicians who blame killings in middle belt on farmers/herders clash and said it is a deceptive narrative to motives of what he called a repetition of Sokoto Jihadists’ war.
He said: “These are foreign Fulani who have been allowed to enter Nigeria, so that they could help their brothers in Nigeria kill innocent citizens and wreck havoc on our ancestral lands.
“These Fulani occupy the lands, carrying AK47, killing people, destroying communities in the middle belt and other parts of the country.
“And the government knows them, government pays them to destroy ancestral lands. Politicians know the bandits that enter Nigeria, but they will not tell us.
“Politicians have devised a wrong narrative that is deceptive, saying it is farmers/herders clash in middle belt; if it is clash, how come Fulani are carrying AK47 to kill the people.
“Nigeria is well blessed with intelligent people, but they cannot, up till today, solve insecurity in the country. Something terrible has befallen our country. God, open the mouths of the people, let them speak the truth and die for the truth.”