The Fulani socio–cultural association, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has lamented the increasing militarization of what it called a social crisis, stating that banditry is a social issue that cannot be solved by military action even though the bandits have been killing, raping and abducting innocent Nigerians on a daily bases especially in Northern parts of Nigeria.

A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, in a keynote address at the launching of an interactive policy dialogue and cultural festival with the aim of addressing challenges confronting the Fulani ethnic stock in Nigeria held in Abuja, lamented what he called the federal government’s increasing militarization of banditry in the country.

Usman said:

“Banditry is a social problem and Nigeria is increasingly militarizing it. There is a role for the military but there is not going to be a military solution to banditry anywhere in this country.

“Only if we all come in to solve this problem, and it is not time to blame anybody, we are all in this mess together and somebody told me we all bore this ‘pregnancy’ and gave birth to this monster called banditry. We are all responsible for this problem directly or indirectly, and the soldiers are called to clean up the mess. I told them, military, you cannot do this alone.”

Also speaking at the occasion, an Islamic scholar who has become notorious for his association with Fulani bandits, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, argued that the bandits have been pushed to the wall pointing out that there is now a stong animosity towards the Fulani. He stressed that, while many of them are good, only a fraction of them has taken to crimes.

He said:

“They (bandits) have been pushed to the wall. Somebody will say they are criminals but I wonder who is not a criminal. When villagers would hear on radio that this governor or accountant has stolen billions. What do you expect him to do? He would steal too.

“My only fear is the infiltration of terrorists into their midst. I think it is something we have to consider very seriously. We have to go in and capture them from terror. And even the terrorists themselves, I think there has been some neglect. I discussed with a former president who told me that he has been to some areas where you have Boko Haram and that they are ready to lay down their arms with conditions but the government of that day refused to accept those conditions. Up till now, Boko Haram is not a hopeless case. We have to protect our herdsmen from the infiltration of terrorists.