By Emmanuel Nduka
Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, northern Nigeria, has affirmed that majority of the bandits kidnapping for ransom and killing Nigerians in the north, are of Fulani tribe.
Masari who made this bold declaration while speaking on Channels Television on Monday, suggested that the Fulani bandits might have come in from other African countries.
“Majority of those involved in this banditry are Fulanis. Whether (this revelation) is palatable or not, but that’s the truth. I’m not saying 100 per cent of them are Fulanis. But the majority of them are.
“They are people who speak the same language like me, who profess the same religion like me. So what we have here on the ground, these bandits, they are not aliens.
“They are people we know. They are people that have been living with us for 100 years. The infiltration we have from other African countries are also people of Fulani extraction,” Masari said.
Meanwhile, his latest comment contradicts his counterpart in Niger State, Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello’s claim that bandits terrorising the north are not Fulanis, but mercenaries hired to cause northerners trouble.
Governor Masari has constantly told northerners to defend themselves with anything at their disposal, including their teeth, in fighting the bandits.
