Not All Fulani Are Bandits—Group

The Fulbe Development and Cultural Organisation (FUDECO ) has lamented the lingering stereotype that labels the Fulani ethnic group as bandits or kidnappers, while deviants from other ethnic groups are described simply as criminals.

Speaking during the Fulbe National Day and cultural festival held in Maiduguri yesterday, the coordinator of FUDECO Borno State chapter, Ayuba Usman Bawuro, who represented the national chairman, Amb Sarli Sardou Nana, said such selective labelling fuels prejudice, undermines social cohesion, and hampers development.

He said Fulbe ethnic group being pastoralists are employers of labour, taxpayers and contributors to the nation’s food value- chain, adding that their livestock and agricultural produce sustain families and markets across the country.

He however noted that the challenge facing the Fulbe pastorialists is continued suffering from insurgency, kidnappings, cattle rustling and hardship of transhumance migration.

Of particular concern he further noted is the rising drug abuse among pastoralists youth, which has become an omen of violence and farm mischief, saying the Fulbe community must address this scourge through education, counselling and community- based rehabilitation, lest it further would destabilise their fragile peace.