A group of unidentified persons on Sunday threatened to attack Asaba and Agbor in Delta State should Governor Ifeanyi Okowa fail to withdraw his support for the ban on open grazing within 72 hours.
An unsigned letter containing the threat was pasted at strategic locations in Asaba, including the fence of the Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel along Infant Jesus road.
The letter titled, ‘Fulani jihadist warning: An open message to Delta State’, was dated June 13, 2021.
It read, “This is to inform Delta State that the Fulani of Usman Dan Fodio leadership shall do everything it can to uphold the legacy of our heritage of open grazing; for we are nomadic people from origination and shall never negotiate the ownership of Nigeria, West Africa and Sub-Sahara.
“We hereby demand the Governor of Delta State to immediately withdraw his earlier stand on the call to ban open grazing in 17 regions (states) in not less than 72 hours from the above date, and also withdraw his position as the leading voice for the governors.”
The group, in the letter, which was not signed, said they were always aware of every development in the South, adding they knew about the hosting of the South-South, South-East and South-West governors meeting in Asaba.
The letter added, “Failure to adhere to this demand for being the host of the 17 governors, Delta State, most likely, the city of Asaba and Agbor, shall encounter severe consequences than that of Bornu, Kebbi, Kastina, Kaduna, Enugu, Benue, Oyo and many more that will not respect the Fulani’s heritage.
“We take responsibility for the detonated explosive uncovered in the state capital secretariat, which should serve as a warning to the Delta State Government for what is to come should the governor fail to abide to our demand.
“We highly advise all Fulani and northerners, including the security personnel, to leave Delta State as soon as possible for the wind of our action is now present in the land. Failure of the governor to adhere to our call shall live us with no other choice.”
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Ali, did not answer several calls put across to his mobile phone as of the time of filing this report.
Also, the Chief Press to the Governor, Olisa Ifeajika, could not answer several call puts across to him, while a text message sent to his mobile phone on the matter was not replied as of the time of filing this report.
Copyright PUNCH.
