Tofa, others caution against profiling Fulani, Hausa as criminals

Prominent personalities from the north have cautioned against ethnic profiling of Hausa/Fulani as the cause of major problems bedeviling the country.

They are Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa, Amb. Fatimah Balla, Alh. Sule Yahaya Hamma, Hubert Shaiyen, Dr Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, Mallam Bilya Bala, Dr Usman Bugaje, Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim, Hon. Sani Zorro, Commodore Naibaida (Rtd), Prof. Mustapha Gwadabe, Prof. Idris’s Sha’aban Jimada, Prof. Omar Massoud, Prof. Abdulkadir Adamu, Mallam Kabir Danladi, Mallam Isa Modibbo, Engr Hassan Hussaini, Mallam Murtala Abubakar, Mallam Aminu Musa, Muhammad Kabir Abubakar, Nasir Mohammed Abubakar and Sunny S. Moniedafe.

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In a statement they jointly signed, they expressed worry over “incendiary statements and actions made against northerners, especially in the Southwest, saying it served as a threat to the cohesion needed as a country.”

“We must always be ready to resist the profiling of any group as evil or the sole source of any crisis. The on-going profiling of the Fulani and the Hausa as the causal factors of the current challenges facing the country must be condemned by all.

“The words and action of certain individuals and a section of the media reducing criminality to a particular ethnic group is a serious threat to national cohesion,” they said.

They said emerging evidence emanating from different parts of the country indicated that kidnapping and banditry were neither restricted to one particular ethnic group or region in Nigeria.

“Ritual killings, armed robbery and kidnappings for ransom have become an equal opportunity activity for all sections of the country and as they are being arrested and prosecuted around the country, the profiling of groups is limited to northerners.”

They commended efforts of some national leaders to douse rising tensions.

They, however, said they were worried by the ‘silence’ of the presidency whose constitutional role is to protect lives and property.

They recalled that ethnic and religious profiling led to instability of many nations as they bred “intolerance and fanatical hatred as typified by break-ups.”

They appealed to the Federal Government and law-abiding citizens to guarantee the lives, safety and property of all citizens across the country.