The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has accused the federal government of double standards after what it described as a subtle endorsement of the establishment of Nomad Volunteer Vigilante Group in Nasarawa State.
The vigilante group, according to checks by the magazine, was inaugurated last week by Miyetti Allah, a controversial Fulani herder body to assist security agencies to combat crime in the state.
The event which took place in Lafia, the state capital was attended by some top security chief from the Army and Nigerian Police Force, NPF, including the state commissioner of police, Umar Nadada, represented by the assistant commissioner of police, operations, Abdulaziz Aliyu, and the commander 177 Guard Battalion, Keffi, Lt. Col. Inuwa Bala, represented by Maj. M. A. Sani
The rights body described the development as an attempt to usurp the function of the NPF, citing the extant law which stated that the police should be responsible for the country’s internal security.
According to chapter 6, part 3, section 214 of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, as amended which states: “There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigerian police force and subject to this provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.”
HURIWA in a statement stated that it’s wrong to give the Fulani vigilant group an official backing after the federal government had earlier banned the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, a militant group established by detained leader Nnamdi Kanu.
“HURIWA is aware and as we read from the report put up by the United State’s security think tank: Council on Foreign Relations, that when the Eastern Security Network was set up in the South East by IPOB, President Muhammadu Buhari got agitated and held marathon security meeting with the military service chiefs and the inspector general of police, Nigerian military sources confirmed that some troops were being moved from Borno State, where they have been engaged with Boko Haram and other jihadis, to the South East, to counter “bandits” and the regional separatist organization, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), along with its security force, the Eastern Security Network (ESN),” the rights body said.
The group further stated that it would be wrong to allow the Fulani vigilante to continue to exist after the federal government had unleashed its full force on the IPOB and ESN with the aim of stamping the Kanu-led group out of existence.
According to checks, over 500 Igbo youths have been killed by the military in their quest to eliminate IPOB in the last few years.
Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Sociocultural Association last week launched the Nomad Volunteer, comprising 1,144 volunteers last week.
