Meat scarcity looms, as Fulani leaders threaten to stop sales of livestock nationwide

Leaders of Fulani groups in Nigeria have threatened to stop the sales of their livestock nationwide over alleged incessant attacks on their members.

The Fulani leaders, arising from an emergency meeting in Abuja on Saturday, expressed their concern over challenges faced by pastoralists, threatening to halt the sales of livestock nationwide if their grievances are not addressed by the Federal government.

The meeting, which held under the auspices of the Fulbe National Security Summit, organised by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), had leaders of Tabital Pulaaku International and Fulbe Global Development and Right Initiative in attendance, and presided over by the National President of MACBAN, Baba Othman Ngelzarma.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, Ngelzarma lamented that pastoralists have been unfairly targeted for crimes in the country, and called for an end to what he described as the stereotyping and stigmatization of the Fulani herdsmen.

Ngelzarma alleged that the government has not made significant progress in addressing the root causes of the current conflict and the challenges faced by the Fulani community.

He added that the Fulbe pastoralists do not enjoy government patronage and are often made scapegoats for most atrocities.

He further noted that the Fulbe often suffer intimidation, segregation, molestation, and all forms of deprivation in the hands of security agents and vigilante groups, thus forcing them out of their occupational livelihood and ancestral homes.