By Anthony Ogbekile
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, on Friday said Nigerians did not need the permission of any governor to reside anywhere in the country. According to Mohammed, citizens do not need the permission of his Ondo State counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, to live in the forests in the South-West state. Governor Mohammed also explained himself over a comment he made about herdsmen carrying Ak-47 rifles for self defence, a statement issued by Mukhtar Gidado, his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on media, said.
The Bauchi governor said that the primary objective of his comment was “to avert the dangerous prospect of a nation-wide backlash and generalization of the Fulani clan as criminals”. Meanwhile, Akeredolu has described as “provoking and insensitive” the comments made by gov Mohammed that Nigerians do not need Akeredolu’s permission to live in Ondo forests.
Akeredolu also warned the Bauchi governor not to set the country on fire with his rhetoric. In a bid to rid Ondo forests of killer herdsmen accused of sundry crimes, including kidnappings, killings, and rape, among others, Akeredolu had ordered all herdsmen to vacate the state forest reserves or register with the state government.
The development generated outrage with the Presidency and some governors, including Mohammed, who said Akeredolu lacked the right to issue a vacation notice to herders in the state. Also faulting Governor Bala Mohammed, human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), said the Bauchi governor, while serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, demolished people’s houses because they encroached on government land.
Falana described it as funny that Bala could turn around and say herdsmen had a right to stray into people’s land and reside in forest reserves without government permission. The battle of words continues to rage.
Herdsmen can live anywhere;
carry AK-47 – Gov Mohammed
The Attack: “Land is in the hands of the state and federal governments in trust but Nigerians don’t need the permission of governors or the federal government to settle everywhere. You don’t need the permission of the governor of Bauchi or the governor of Ondo to be in the forests of Ondo if you choose to live in the forests because under Section 41 of the constitution, you are free to settle anywhere.”
The Fulani man is so exposed, dehumanized and demonized. He is being seen as a bandit and so anywhere he goes, his commonwealth which I call his cows are being taken and rustled and sometimes they are fined beyond your imagination and then he has no option than to protect himself,” “when we mention AK-47, it is a figure of speech, the issue is protection, self-help, you must protect yourself”.
The Clarification: “The attention of the Bauchi State government has been drawn to reactions from various members of the public to gov. Mohammed’s speech, at the closing ceremony of the Press Week of the Correspondent’s Chapel of the NUJ in Bauchi State, last Thursday.
“The Governor used the occasion to weigh in on the contentious issue of clashes between herdsmen and farmers, particularly against the backdrop of the eviction and other forms of restriction orders, issued by some state governments and non-governmental entities.
“The primary objective of the Governor was to avert the dangerous prospect of a nation-wide backlash as tempers flared and given that the phenomenon of inter-ethnic migration, is a national pastime involving all ethnic groups in Nigeria. “By extension, the Governor made it abundantly clear that it will be inappropriate to label any one tribe based on the crimes of a few members of the ethnic group.”
Don’t set Nigeria on fire
– Gov Akeredolu
Bala Mohammed, guilty of double standards – Falana
Akeredolu: The position of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, is not to engage or confront anyone who has the mindset of a crisis entrepreneur or war monger. “Very provoking and insensitive as the statement appears, we can only err on the side of caution by advising Governor Bala Mohammed not to set Nigeria on fire by his thoughts that are highly destructive and undermining national cohesion. “Nigerians should ignore him and rather focus on those issues that can bring about peace and engender unity.”
Femi Falana: “Under the Bala Mohammed administration in the FCT, thousands of houses were demolished on the grounds that they were illegally built on landed properties belonging to the Federal Government. The ex-minister wanted to demolish the entire Mpape housing over a million people. He had claimed that the owners of the various properties had trespassed on the land belonging to the Federal Government. “The people whose properties had been marked for demolition briefed our law firm to seek legal redress. On behalf of the community, we approached the FCT High Court for urgent intervention. In an epochal judgment delivered by the Justice Kutigi, the planned demolition was halted.”
While Section 41 of the constitution guarantees freedom of movement, it does not give anyone the freedom to settle anywhere. Section 43 of the constitution provides that every person is entitled to own immovable property in any state in Nigeria. It is curious that Mohammed, who had defended herdsmen carrying AK-47 rifles, could go on to demolish a house storing such guns and warned the governor to stop deceiving herdsmen.
