Taraba monarch’s ultimatum unsettles security agencies

The 30-day ultimatum given by the Emir of Muri, Alhaji Abbas Tafida, for criminal Fulani herders to vacate Taraba forests has rattled security agencies in the state.

According to the monarch, failure to leave the forests will lead to forceful ejection by the authorities.

A spokesman of a security agency in Jalingo disclosed yesterday that the atrocities committed by the deadly herders include killings, kidnappings and cattle rustling in the emirate council.

He, however, stated that the outburst of the emir created tension among the security agencies.

“It has security implication on the protection of life and property,” he warned.

The monarch, according to the security source, should have provided intelligence to security services on those allegations for prompt investigation.

His words: “We respect traditional rulers a lot and take their statements seriously. The emir should have availed us of information available to him that indicated the rising cases of kidnappings, killings, and attacks were linked to suspected criminal herders in the forest.

“Our fear is that the threat by the emir could trigger jungle justice and reprisal attacks between the citizens and herders,” he lamented, adding that the ultimatum could aggravate the current security situation in the state.

Njidda was reported as saying in a video obtained yesterday that if the criminal herders refused to heed his warning, none of them would be spared of arrest.

Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, said the Federal Government was doing its best to tackle the security situation with a lot of progress in two months.

He, therefore, called on Nigerians to continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight against criminality.