Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Emir of Kano, says the media coverage of killings in the north central part of the country has not been balanced, as attacks on the Fulani went unreported.

In what Sanusi described as genocide, he said many Fulani were killed in Taraba State last year but the media did not report it.

“Some months ago in Mambilla, in one weekend, over 800 Fulani were murdered by Mambilla militias,” Sanusi told The Punch in an interview.  “The papers did not even go there to cover the story. Most of those wiped out were women, infants and the elderly.

“In one case, a pregnant woman was killed, her stomach was ripped open and the baby was brought out and slaughtered.”

He said despite his effort to get justice for the Fulani victims, government did nothing about it.

“I personally handed over to the Federal Government a dossier with the names and pictures of the 800 or so people slaughtered as well as the names and addresses of persons known to have participated in these acts of ethnic cleansing.

“Nothing has happened. I also ensured that authorities received video and audio evidence of senior politicians in Taraba State, who were involved in this act of genocide. No one has been arrested. Fulan were also murdered in Kajuru and Numan.

“In many of these cases, it was not about conflict but militias raiding settlements to kill women and children, and then later, attacking herdsmen and slaughtering them and their cattle.”

The emir denied the allegation that the killings by the herdsmen were a ploy to take over people’s land, adding that recent attacks by herdsmen were reprisals as well failure of government and security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The point I am making is that we are living in a country that has failed to protect the lives of people on all sides and bring culprits to book.

“Also in the case of the Fulani, there is a deliberate attempt to ‘ethnicise’ criminality, and politicians, who are total failures, have found the anti-Fulani rhetoric to be the way to get popularity.”

Sanusi, who condoled with the people of Benue State over the recent killing of over 70 persons, said he shared the view of Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State that the anti-grazing law in Benue was divisive and unfair to the Fulani herdsmen.

He said he had appealed to the Taraba State Governor to delay the implementation of the law in the state. but all his pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

He said he welcomed the idea of ranching, but the approach by the Taraba and Benue state governments was not the solution.

“This is what we all want. But in Benue and Taraba, the approach has not been one of including and supporting and regulating herdsmen but of isolation and hate. I am happy Governor Lalong of Plateau has publicly stated that he advised Governor Ortom of Benue to tread carefully.

“I can confirm that I personally spoke to Governor Darius Ishaku before his public hearings on his law and begged him to slow down until he has worked out proper implementation but he refused.”

The former CBN governor admitted that he is one of the patrons of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, alongside the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Katsina, the Emir of Zazzau and the Lamido of Adamawa.

He said Miyetti Allah had never been involved in acts of violence and had always called on its members to eschew violence.