Akeredolu to Miyetti Allah: Stop defending herders who commit crime

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has asked the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore to stop defending foreign herders who commit crime.

Akeredolu, who stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by Daily Trust, said it is expedient for the police and other security agencies to identify criminals among foreign herders and prosecute them.

• Bauchi gov clarifies comment on herders bearing firearms
• How Angry Youths Barred Oyo, Ondo Governors From Monarch’s Palace in Ibadan

He asked Miyetti Allah to join hands with government and police authorities to treat those who perpetrate evil as criminals.

He said, “Whether we like it or not, let us agree with ourselves that this is a common language they’ve been speaking across length and breadth, particularly in West Africa and part of North Africa.

“So, if they come, how did they come here? But one of our major problems is that when we have an evil of this nature, and we have a group like the Miyetti Allah, they do not have to hold themselves out to defend these people.

“If they are not your members, and you do not agree with what they are doing, there is no need for you to defend them. Let us treat them strictly as what they are – criminals and get them out, and leave yourself to support us in getting them out.”

The governor also lampooned his Bauchi state counterpart over his recent comment on herdsmen bearing arms.

He said Governor Bala Mohammed should have called for calm instead of “escalating already heightened tension”.

Akeredolu, who is the Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum, further said the governors in the zone are expected to meet with the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, and the newly appointed service chiefs on Wednesday over the security challenge in the region.