By MBAFAN ADE
The British Government has responded to the protest by the Mutual Union of Tiv in the United Kingdom’s (MUTUK) against the Fulani Herdsmen attacks, which culminated in brutal killing of 73 persons in Guma and Logo local government areas of Benue State on January 1, 2018.
The protest, carried out by members of the Tiv community in the UK, was accompanied with a written petition which MUTUK submitted to the British Prime Minister on January 22, 2018.
MUTUK had submitted a petition titled “Stopping the systematic killings and displacement of rural farming communities by Terror Fulani Cattle Herdsmen in the Benue Valley of Nigeria”
The organisation in the petition, made a request to the British Government to consider intervening in the systematic ethnic cleansing and requesting the Federal Government as a matter of national security, to take the necessary steps to identify and disarm the Fulani herders and their accomplices and provide protection for the victims.
According to the Publicity Secretary of MUTUK, Salome Sulleyol Biam, the response by the British Prime Minister, is contained in a letter signed by Angela Almona (Whitehall Nigeria Unit) from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and addressed to Dr Kohol Shadrach Iornem, the Vice President of MUTUK and convener of the protest.
Biam quoted the British Government as stating in the letter that it was concerned about the issue of unprovoked attacks and killing by Fulani herdsmen in Tivland.
“We are engaging with Federal and State Governments to express our concerns about this issue and to encourage the government to work with the affected populations to develop a solution that meets the needs of all the communities affected,” said the British government.
This is coming barely one week after the police announced the arrest of the principal suspects in the unpredictable mayhem by Fulani herdsmen in Guma and Logo council areas of Benue State, in which 73 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the process.
According to media reports, the four principal suspects, who were arrested in Tunga town of Nasarawa State between 16 and 19 February 2018 by Intelligence Response Team of the Force, have confessed to the killings and mentioned gang members in possession of the police rifles they took from the slain police officers and others in possession of arms.
The suspects’ names were given as Alhaji Laggi, 40years, mastermind and gang leader of the herdsmen group; Mallam Mumini Abdullahi, 34 years; Muhammed Adamu, 30 years and Ibrahim Sule, 32 years old.