Herdsmen’s Killings: N’Delta Group Petitions UN

A Niger Delta rights group known as  Niger Delta Roundtable has raised alarm over the continued attack by suspected herdsmen in the country.
In a petition to the United Nations at the weekend, the NDR alleged that the herdsmen, mostly from the northern part of Nigeria, were at the verge of committing genocide against the people of the South-South and the South-East of the country.
The group said the alarm was coming on the heels of various threats that are currently in circulation and the refusal of the Federal Government to arrest or prosecute any of the suspected perpetrators of these violence.
It alleged that the herdsmen’s activities obviously appear to be backed by a cabal in the Federal Government, particularly with the intent to constantly harass and kill people in the South-East and South-South zones of the country.
The group also accused the Nigerian Police of inefficiency and cover ups in cases involving attacks against farmers by the herdsmen in those parts of the country.
The group, therefore, asked the UN to come to the aid of the people of the South-South and South-East of the country, knowing full well that the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a posture of the unconcerned, in what looks like turning against the same people in a bid to exterminate them.
The group also faulted the ongoing anti-corruption campaign, alleging that it was merely a propaganda and basically a war against the South-South.
“A critical and objective look at the issue will reveal that there is actually no region that has looted the country more than the Northerners right from the beginning and until date”, the petition said.
“This government has continued to create an impression that people from the South-South are the looters and believing that going after them will weaken their economic strength which is also a strategy”, the petition added.
The group called on world leaders not to overlook these dangerous incidents, considering the lives being lost, insisting that any genuine effort to promote peace and human rights and desires to protect people irrespective of their country should include actions that can assist and ensure the safety of the people of the South-South and South-East.
The group added that if nothing was done, they would have no choice than to protect themselves and their lives in whichever way they deem fit.