- Safiu Kehinde
Emir of Muri Taraba, Abass Tafida, has given Fulani herdsmen and bandits a 30-day ultimatum to leave Taraba state.
Tafida gave the ultimatum while addressing the crowd at a recent public event.
As captured in a now viral video shared on X on Monday, the visibly enraged Taraba monarch decried the spate of kidnapping and killings by bandits and suspected Fulani herdsmen in the state.
Prior to the ultimatum, the Emir asked the bandits and herdsmen if they are Muslims as he held that Allah is against the act of killing fellow Muslims.
Speaking in Hausa, Tafida threatened to instigate the killing of every Fulani Bororos if the bandits and herdsmen fails to leave the state or surrender to the authority before the expiration of the ultimatum.
“Let’s bring it down to Taraba. I want to make a significant remark for everyone to here. Our Fulani Bororo in the jungle, you came to this land. You are our brothers. We agree you are our brothers.
“We welcome you. But I have a question for you. We are Muslims. What about you? You must give an answer. If you are true Muslims, then it is absolutely wrong to continue to kidnap us one by one and ask for ransom.
“Allah does not approve this act. But we deserve to know if you are Muslims or not. We have waged war against pagans in the past and we can still do the same now.
“For this reason, I am giving every bandit in our territory a 30-day ultimatum from today to leave our forest or else we will set out to apprehend dead or alive any one culpable.
“If you don’t come out from your hidings and face the authority, then we will have no choice but to draw the battle line. We will kill Bororo anywhere we find them. We will not ask for his name; we will not ask what brough him; we will not ask for where he lives. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. But the truth must come to bear.
“There is no way one idiot who resides in the forest will emerge, kidnap and rape our women.” the Emir said.
While frowning over the bail of an unidentified District Head who allegedly colluded with bandits in kidnapping villagers, Tafida vowed to kill families of any Districts Head caught collaborating with bandits.
He also warned the Nigerian Police against illegal arrangements of kidnappers’ bail.
“It is surprising to find out that a District Head is conniving with bandits, and you saw how the Police granted him bail and he returned back to your town. Are crazy?
“Let it be known from today that any caught conniving with bandits, we will kill his mother, father, brother, and sister.
“And Police should hear this. Yes, we agree you are the Nigerian Police, but if we ever again encounter a situation where a kidnapper is set free by a Police officer through some illegal arrangements, we will be compelled to constitute our own version of ‘unknown gun men’.
“There is no way we will continue to have sleepless night in our homes. The poverty in the land is enough problem for us already.” He said.