Okoi Obono-Obla, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution Matters, says it would amount to ethnic profiling and hate speech for the federal government to declare Fulani herdsmen terrorists.
Obono-Obla was speaking on Africa Independent Television, AIT, in respect to the recent proscription of the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB.
He said that the IPOB did not only engage in killings and attacking soldiers with petrol bombs, they also threatened the very existence of Nigeria, printed a parallel currency, designed a parallel flag and formed a parallel military and intelligence service, all of which the so-called Fulani herdsmen have not done.
“It would be ethnic profiling and an hate speech to label all Fulani herdsmen as those who are lawless,” Obono-Obla said.
“Most of the Fulani people are herdsmen, so it is wrong. Maybe there are few people among the Fulani herdsmen who do this but it is wrong, because I have seen Fulani Herdsmen, even in my community down south.
“I am from Cross River State, down south, in my community, the Fulani herdsmen live there peacefully, they even speak our local languages, because Cross River State is a mini Nigeria, the Fulani herdsmen they have integrated and they speak local languages and they are very peaceful people.
“So how can you label them terrorists or that the President should declare them as an unlawful society? It is not fair.
“The one you mentioned in Lagos (Badoo), the military have been dealing with them but they have not threatened the territorial integrity of Nigeria, they have not threatened the corporate existence of Nigeria, they have not printed a currency, they have not done a passport, they have not said they will make Lagos ungovernable, they have not been going about acquiring arms illegally, importing weapons into the country, saying that ‘we will wage war against Nigeria if you don’t organise a referendum’ they have not done that.”
Obono-Obla also said that the IPOB is operating as an illegal organisation in Nigeria because it was registered as a business concern in the State of California in USA.
“We recently discovered that the proscribed IPOB was registered as a company, as a business concern in the State of California in the United States,” he said.
“And the Law says if you are bringing a foreign company to Nigeria to do business, you have to go to the Corporate Affairs Commission, under section 53 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act and register that company, otherwise you are committing a criminal offence under section 54 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, and you are liable to prosecution by the Attorney General of the Federation.
“So all these while, IPOB was operating illegally in Nigeria but now IPOB has been proscribed.