Middle belt dissociates from north, sends message to government

By Aunde T. Emmanuel (eaundeblog)

- A Middle belt group dissociated itself from the quit notice issued to Igbos 

- The group said restructuring the country was the way forward 

- It accused the government of double standard over the security issue in the country

A group, Middle Belt Patriotic Front, has announced that states in the region do not want to be associated with the north anymore and dissociated from the quit notice issued to Igbos. The issuance of a 90-day ultimatum to Igbos living in the north by some Arewa Youths had spurred reactions in the country and according to Vanguard, the middle belt group said it was not part of it.

The group said states in the North-Central region as well as southern parts of Kaduna, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Yobe and Adamawa states should not be categorized as belonging to Northern Nigeria. Nasiru Jagaba who is the spokesperson of the group spoke on Tuesday, July 4 in Kaduna where he spoke on behalf of the group said the states would not watch while the country degenerates into another civil war. He said: “For the avoidance of doubt; any recourse to threaten any of our brothers from other regions will be met with stiff resistance from the Middle-Belt. We also condemn in the strongest terms, the perceived patting on the back by some Arewa so called Elders to these mis-guided Arewa Youths whose conduct is inimical to the peaceful and cooperate existence of this nation. “Please let the world be advised that the Middle-Belt is not part of the north and nobody has our mandate to speak for us. We call on other regions of the country to consider us as Middle-Belters which is our identity."

He called on other regions to support the call for restructuring and blamed the north for not making use of the communication network in the region. The group also accused the federal government of double standard by not acting when there were report of Fulani herdsmen killing. “Another case-in-point is the clear double standards exhibited by this Government that did nothing when thousands of Christians in the States of Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa, Southern Borno, Southern Kaduna and parts of Southern Nigeria were brutally murdered by the Fulani herdsmen during almost a decade of a killing spree; but were quick to send a strong military contingent within a week to Taraba state when it was alleged that a few of these same murdering Fulani herdsmen had been killed in the state. This speaks volumes of Government’s body language.”

“The Middle-Belt has been turned into a theater of undeclared war by both Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen (globally adjudged to be the 1st and 4th deadly terror groups in the world). 

“Their reign of murder and terror on our people and the southern regions of the Country has continued unchallenged, while the government of the day, which is well disposed to contain them has instead protected them; thus creating a deep mistrust from all other regions of the country against the far northern regions”