Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has called on President Bola Tinubu to disband Nomad Volunteer Vigilante Group recently launched in Nasarawa State.
The rights association made the call in a statement on Sunday by its national leader, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.
“This so-called national vigilante group by Miyetti Allah is an attempt to usurp the functions of the Nigeria Police Force which constitutionally, is the only legal policing institution in the Country by virtue of chapter 6, part 3, section 214 of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, as amended“.
HURIWA said it was unconstitutional that military commanders and top police officers attended the public inauguration of the illegal vigilantes by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore thereby giving it official imprimatur when then President Muhammadu Buhari unleashed the full weight of armed forces for the purposes of crushing a similar volunteer vigilante set up few years back by the Indigenous peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
It recalled that the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Sociocultural Association launched the Nomad Volunteer Vigilante Group on Wednesday, comprising 1,144 carefully selected, screened, and profiled volunteers.
HURIWA said the initiators of this vigilante, which it suspects strongly may be armed and dangerous, announced that the primary objective was to address various security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling, in Nasarawa State, the group has said.
“Abdullahi Bodejo, the association’s national president, emphasised that the volunteer vigilantes would strictly adhere to the country’s existing laws during their operations.
”Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Lafia, Bodejo urged the volunteer vigilantes to work in collaboration with the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, and other security agencies. This collaborative effort is intended to ensure a more comprehensive approach to security across the 13 local government areas of Nasarawa State,” the statement said.
HURIWA said it is illegal and unconstitutional for herders to set up a vigilante whereas farmers, traders, teachers, clerics in Nasarawa State do not have similar privilege backed by a section of the armed forces present at the inauguration of the Fulani herders vigilante.
HURIWA also condemned the double standards manifested by the Nigeria Army and the Nigeria Police Force, and the federal government for backing the establishment of an illegal ethnic army to allegedly foist ethnic Fulani agenda all across Nigeria.
It said the Federal Government decisively crushed a similar volunteer vigilante set up in the Igbo speaking South East of Nigeria by Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and many innocent Igbo youths who are not even members of the group “have been massacred by the Army, Police and DSS.
