The Fulani community in Plateau state has suspended its participation in the ongoing dialogue between their members and the Berom community as a result of massive cattle rustling witnessed in the last two weeks.
Blueprint reports that a dialogue and re-conciliatory session organised by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a foreign non-governmental organisation that assists in mediation between conflicting parties, has been holding dialogues between selected ethnic groups in the state, including the two ethnic groups since 2002.
The withdrawal letter which was issued by the Chairman of Fulani community in the state, Shehu Buba Umar, and addressed to the Senior Consultant for the HD centre, Phillips Ostien, in Jos, the community said its decision to suspend the dialogue was “sequel to the killing of two young cattle rearers and outright shooting of 40 cattle on March 7, 2014.”
The letter said: “Similarly, 566 cows were rustled into Vwang village of Jos South LGA on same date. Only 65 cows were recovered till date; all appeals to the traditional rulers, local and state government, including security agencies yielded minimal results in getting the rustled cattle back to their owners. We are under tremendous pressure from our community and since we are representing them, we have no option than to oblige their request to withdraw pending further consultations.”
