Alleged killings: Fulani threaten to sue military

The leadership of the Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders As­sociation of Nigeria (MACBAN), has threatened to drag the Nigerian military to court over alleged inces­sant killing of its members in the country.
The umbrella body of Fu­lani cattle breeders, said it would seek redress over the alleged brutal killings, in­timidation, harassment and infringement on the rights of their members.
Reacting to recent kill­ing of some of its members, MACBAN, in a statement signed by its National Sec­retary, Baba Usman Ngel­zarma, and read to journalists in Kaduna at the weekend, it frowned at the level of injus­tice against them.
Ngelzarma said: “First, we want to draw your attention to gruesome killing of some of our members in Saminaka town in Lere Local Govern­ment Area, Kaduna State, whereby six members of our association were sent to their early graves.
“The six members namely, Samaila Muhammadu, Isa Sule, Saleh Hassan, Mati Us­man and two others on May 21, 2014 at about 1500 hours, were arrested in Kunkuru vil­lage in the same Lere Local Government, while returning from their grazing point in the South to their place of origin in Jigawa State as it is the tra­dition for all cattle breeders during the rainy season in the North.
“The said six members, who were in company of other five, among them minors, were arrested by officers of Special military Task Force. One of them was shot in the leg while the six died out of gunshots and torture.
“MACBAN sees this as bru­tal and deliberately planned to eliminate our members and it is more painful when security agents are involved.
“We also want to inform you of the assault and intimi­dation of one of our members, Isa Idris of Rumanda village in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State. On May, 2014, the village head of Rumanda summoned the said Isa and asked him to drive with him to the village and sort out a matter with him. As they alighted from the vil­lage head’s car, he ordered for the said Isa to be mercilessly beaten and youths around car­ried out his command thereby, beating the victim to death..