Oba Warns Against Expelling Fulani Herdsmen From S’West

A popular Yoruba traditional ruler based in Abuja, Olusegun Salau, has warned against expelling Fulani herdsmen from the South West geo-political zone following insecurity issues, The Punch reports.

The Oba who spoke with newsmen on Monday, December 28, said the call to drive away Fulani herdsmen from the region because of alleged insecurity and activities of herdsmen, pointed out that the consequences of such action “could consume Nigeria.” Oba Salau hinted that all the Yoruba Obas in the 19 northern states have agreed that if the herdsmen are ejected from the South West, “they have nowhere to go other than where they find themselves today.” The traditional ruler described the call to eject the herdsmen as similar to adding more fuel to a burning fire of which consequence would be grave. According to him, the monarchs in the 19 northern states have held several meetings on the issue before arriving at this decision. “All the obas in the North met in my house here and we issued a press release, stating our position regarding the issue as Yoruba obas in the North. Actually, Nigeria is one. From where I come from, we have Fulanis that if you don’t study carefully, you won’t know that they are Fulanis,” he said. Oba Salau urged the different communities in the South West to dialogue with governments of the region and look for solutions to the issue of insecurity that is threatening their area instead of contemplating ejecting herdsmen. He insisted that if such issue is not well handled, it could consume the country. “I will advise that the community and governments of the South West region should sit down and dialogue on the way of resolving this insecurity problems in the region other than resorting to this means. “There is no where you are going to push the Fulanis to. Fulanis, Ibos, Yorubas and the rest are all the same, no one should sit down and begin to think of how to chase another out of his territory, we are all the same,” Salau said. READ ALSO: Nigeria Police Reveal How Olu Falae Was Freed The monarch while suggesting how the issue could be curbed called on the Federal Government to quickly publish all the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference. He said doing so will enable the public to know the issues that were tackled during the four-month-old event and make necessary responses. Recall that there were calls from highly placed Yorubas suggesting the expulsion of Fulani herdsmen from the South West region after Chief Olu Falae, a former secretary general to the federal government was allegedly kidnapped by herdsmen. The elder statesman after regaining his