Posted by MACBAN, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, has expressed sorrow over the deaths of dozens of pastoralists and butchers in Zamfara State.
President Baba Othman Ngelzarma criticized the Nigerian military, claiming that their deceased members died in either a bomb blast or an airstrike.
The victims perished on January 21 in the Doma Local Government Area’s Rukubi hamlet and were buried on Wednesday.
Deputy Governor Emmanuel Akabe, Commissioner of Police, Emirs of Doma and Lafia, Doma LG Chairman, State MACBAN Chairman, and others attended the burial.
Ngelzarma described the herdsmen’s final moments, recalling their trip to Benue State last week.
“After paying a N29 million fine for breaking the anti-open grazing rule, they went to reclaim roughly 1,250 cows impounded by the Livestock Guards,” he claimed.
According to the MACBAN national chairman, the guys then hired trucks in Makurdi to transport the cows back to Rukubi.
“An attack killed 31 pastoralists and 8 Hausa butchers from Benue when they were offloading the livestock,” he claimed.
Ngelzarma stated four others are being treated in a hospital in Lafia, making this the third incidence in a year.
“It was apparent the Air Force was involved in strafing livestock between the borders of Benue and Nasarawa,” he claimed of the latter two incidents.
“However, it is unclear whether the recent one was a bomb burst, a distant attack, or an airstrike, as reported by our Nasarawa Branch.”
According to the statement, the assault was classified as a war crime under the Geneva Convention, which prohibits the wanton slaughter of livestock.
MACBAN asked how animals became “culprits to deserve such brutal execution by a supposedly well-trained outfit of the Federal Government”.
The organization wants an apology and reparations for the victims’ families, and it wants the government to investigate the “horror” and “punish the perpetrators” to prevent it from happening again.
“The Federal Government must cease using the Air Force to pursue and slaughter livestock in order to please the Benue State Government,” Ngelzarma stated.