Piqued by the grueling security challenges and food crisis in 2021, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to decisively tackle Boko Haram/ISWAP menace as well as take actions that will guarantee food security for Nigerians.
The Forum, in a New Year message signed by its National President, Dr Pogu Bitrus, Sunday, said year 2022 “is full of promises; demonstrating God’s great mercy on us as citizens of a beloved country passing through challenging times.”
According to the statement, “In the previous years, Nigerians, especially ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt, suffered severe and persistent attacks from marauding gangs of murderous herdsmen whose agenda has always been to exterminate our people.
“Recently, some of our people have come under severe attacks in many states of the Middle Belt, including Nasarawa where no fewer than 45 people were gruesomely massacred by coldblooded killer herdsmen.
“These killings have become the trend in many parts of the Middle Belt Region of Southern Kaduna, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Adamawa, among others. In Damboa Local Government Area of Southern Borno, Boko Haram elements have completely taken over the LGA in the past three years without any challenge from the security personnel. It is from Damboa LGA that Boko Haram launches attacks on communities, including the recent attack that killed a military general.
“In the New Year, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to send a clear message to the security forces to defeat Boko Haram and throw them out of Damboa LGA. The destruction of our communities and the unprovoked killings of defenceless citizens can no longer be tolerated. When innocent and vulnerable people are left unprotected from the terror of criminals, there can be no option left than self-defence.
“Closely tied to the horrendous attacks on our communities and the resultant displacement, with farmers abandoning farms in protecting their lives, is the problem of food security. We do not need a prophet to warn us of the dire consequences of what this massive displacement of our farming population holds for our people.
“In the face of these severe attacks that have not attracted commensurate responses from the security personnel, we call on security agencies to smoke out these murderous bandits from their holes and bring them to justice. As an umbrella organisation of ethnic nationalities in the Middle Belt Region, we call on President Buhari to swiftly order the security agencies to stop the human carnage ripping across Nigeria, especially in the Middle Belt.”
