Why US Ambassador hosted Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders

*Over 4m cows lost to insecurity, says MACBAN

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, on Monday in Abuja hosted the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) with a view to finding lasting solutions to the security crisis in the Middle Belt region.

The meeting amidst a revelation by MACBAN that herders in Nigeria have lost over four million heads of cattle valued at over ₦2.8 trillion to insecurity across the country.

Monday’s meeting came on the heels of a string of attacks in communities in Plateau and Benue States which left scores of villagers dead. MACBAN has absolved it’s members of complicity in the killings.

“Today, Ambassador Mills met with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria to hear about the concerns of herder communities. The meeting included discussion of the causes of insecurity and opportunities to peacefully resolve conflict,” the US Embassy posted on it’s “X” handle.

MACBAN had been worried by the narratives by the Plateau and Benue State governments on the crisis.

“These narratives suggest that the state governments have taken a position on the matter and are not ready to yield ground to determine the root causes of these conflicts,” MACBAN’s national President Baba Othman Ngelzarm said.

He said, “Look at what happened when the Plateau state government organized what it called a security council meeting compared to what happened with the US Embassy where the Ambassador sat with us to hear us out.

“We were completely shut out by the Plateau state government. No member of our organization was invited. And you call that a security Council meeting? Doesn’t that suggest a mindset?
Who do you intend to secure when you refused to hear from a key party to the conflict?” he demanded.

“It is such actions that encourage some people to take the law into their hands, kill our people and steal their cattle. Only on Sunday, some locals shot and killed at least 37 cows in Tashek community in the Riyom local government area of Plateau state.

“The average Fulani herder has been so profiled that he is seen as a kidnapper and criminal. People forget that, as is in every society, there are the good, the bad and the ugly. They have made the cattle herder the fall guy for all the violent crimes being committed around Nigeria,” he lamented.

“We have said it time and again that MACBAN members are law-abiding pastoralists whose business over the centuries is herding their cattle. We live in peace and pursue peace as that is the only way our cattle business can thrive. We believe in live and let live,” Ngelzarm affirmed.

The MACBAN president lauded the federal government for what he called the professionalism of the security agencies.

“Take the DSS, for instance. We know how much pressure that is being mounted on its leadership to twist the narrative or to take sides on the matter. The Service has remained fair and just to all, keeping the peace without fear or favour, even at the risk of being blackmailed.

“We are happy that President Bola Tinubu appointed men of honour, who would not do the bidding of people just to be seen as being politically correct. We are happy that our security agencies are living up to their calling of securing Nigeria,” he declared, adding, “as with everything in life, we can do better.”