Feb 21, 2020

By Jude Atupulazi
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders' Association, MACBAN, Southeast Zone, have debunked a report that the group is plotting a retaliatory attack on Ifite Ogwari Community following a skirmish that claimed the lives of four herders.
A group, Igbo Mandate Congress, had issued a statement which it copied to the Ohaneze Ndigbo, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and Christian Association of Nigeria; as well as the diplomatic community, alleging that Miyetti Allah was planning a retaliatory attack in Ifite-Ogwari over the killing of some of its members.
The publication titled, “Fulani vs Anambrarian: Police Arrest Ifite-Ogwari Elders as Igbo Mandate Congress Seeks Justice”, had portrayed the Fulanis as a destructive and murderous group, causing harm to the people of Ifite-Ogwari and their farms. It accused Fulanis of responsibility, for about two weeks running, for the detention of some Ifite-Ogwari leaders by the Nigeria Police, insisting that such detention was consequent upon Miyetti Allah's insistence.
But reacting to this in a press statement, the chairman of MACBAN, Southeast, Alhaji Giddado Siddiki, described the statement by Igbo Mandate Congress as capable of turning Anambra State into a theatre of war.
Said he, 'It is as worrisome as their insinuation that ''the claim by Miyetti Allah leaders that they killed four herders is a subterfuge to attack the community''.’
In a press statement made available to Fides, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, insisted that his group was all for peaceful coexistence with their hosts.
