In a suprising development, the controversial Islamic scholar, who is known as Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has on Friday formed another herder rights organisation which he called the Nomadic Rights Concern, NORIC. He created the group as he reiterated that Killer herdsmen in the country were also victims too and needed an avenue to be heard.
Sheik Gumi had also reiterated that NORIC had been created to protect and defend herders in the country.
Read Also: Treat Fulani Herders Like Niger Delta Militants, Gumi Begs FG
While speaking in Kaduna, Sheik Gumi had noted that the Nigerian government should go lengths to address the herders issue in the same way it handled the Niger Delta youths and he also insisted that the nomadic Fulani had been victims of banditry.
The controversial Islamic scholar reiterated the need for a Ministry of Nomadic Affairs.
According to Gumi: “What I expect from the government is nothing less than what it did when the Niger Delta youths were vandalising the economy.
“These people are also disturbing the Nigerian agriculture which is the backbone of the national economy.
“The least they need is the Ministry of Nomadic Affairs that will look into their affairs.
“The issue that stands out glaringly is that pastoralists are both victims and villains largely because their voices are muffled by an unimaginable level of illiteracy and lack of know-how.
“Their rights are trampled upon or denied, leading to the much avoidable violence in the Nigerian society. Thus, the necessity to establish a non-governmental and apolitical organisation dedicated to peace and harmonious coexistence between various groups and ethnicities, especially amongst headers and farmers.”
Gumi had always advocated a soft landing for herders in the country.
Last year, the Islamic scholar had asked the Federal Government to grant herders linked to banditry amnesty. He asked the Federal Government to grant herders amnesty as it did to Niger Delta militants.