Accused by Plateau State Leaders of Linkage to Massacres
By Luka Binniyat
ABUJA—The leader of Nigeria’s Muslim Fulani tribal group – Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH) – Bello Bodejo, has been arrested by a combined team of Nigerian Army and Nigeria’s secret service, Directorate of State Security (DSS), TruthNigeria can confirm.
Bodejo launched a contentious security group of 2140 herdsmen Wedsnesday, in Lafiya town, 70 miles southeast of Abuja, called Nomadic Vigilante.
A firestorm of criticism by Community leaders erupted.
Bodejo was arrested Tuesday afternoon January 23, 2024, at the Miyetti Allah’s Head Office, Tudun Layi, 10 miles east of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital state.
The Cattle Cartel leader said that the group would be armed in accordance with Nigerian laws.
At the launch of the group, TruthNigeria reported Friday that representatives of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian police attended the ceremony and made speeches in support of it.
“The group was not officially registered as a security group and did not get the official permission of the police or any security arm of government to operate,” a source said.
Another source added that the arrest of Bodejo was linked with the formation of the group after hundreds of mass killings in the Middle Belt and its Sahelian regions in Nigeria’s northwest have been linked to the armed militia often called “bandits” , but who are believed to be made exclusively of the Fulani tribe.
TruthNigeria labels these criminals “terrorists” due to their political motivation: Islamization of the Middle Belt.
Formation of Nomadic Vigilante Boomerangs
Days after the formation of Nomadic Vigilante, the leader of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) Dr. Bitrus Pogu, said that the formation of Nomadic Vigilante has made it inevitable for the mainly Christian Middle Belt to form its own group to defend itself against the Fulani.
“If the Fulani, who everybody knows are the ones annihilating us, can be allowed to openly form a security group under the very supervision of the state and that they will arm it, then it is inevitable that the Middle Belt must form its own defense group,” he said.
Also speaking to TruthNigeria Tuesday morning from Kafanchan, Southern Kaduna 90 miles east of Abuja, the newly elected president of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Dr Samuel Tabara, said, “We in Southern Kaduna have suffered humongous destruction of lives and property by armed Fulani Herdsmen under Bodejo since 2015.”
“We cannot fold our arms and see him form a militia in the open and says he will arm them, and the government seems to be supporting him. The time has come to form ours in the open” Tabara said.
“I can assure you that in Southern Kaduna, we can mobilise over 10,000 volunteers in one month,” he told TruthNigeria.
The fear of proliferation of such defense groups may have also prompted the arrest of Bodejo.
But, Bodejo, during the launch of Nomadic Vigilante in Lafiya town, about 70 miles south east of Abuja, had said that the group was formed to assist the Nigerian military and police to identify criminals and arrest them. He maintained that the group will be strictly guided by Nigerian laws.
The Punch reports that it spoke to the National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Saleh Al-Hassan, Tuesday in Abuja and he confirmed the arrest in a telephone interview.
Al-Hassan, however, denied that Bodejo was arrested in connection to the creation of the Nomadic Vigilante group.
Miyetti Allah: Much Ado About Nothing
“Yes, our National President has been arrested. It was soldiers of the Nigerian Army and DSS operatives who came here and took him away. But the DSS has always been here, and the soldiers are his friends. I think it’s the soldiers who invited him to make some clarifications, but when I get the details, I’ll inform you,” reports Punch.
“However, I can categorically tell you that his arrest was not in connection with the creation of the Miyetti Allah vigilante group,” Al-Hassan told Punch.
“We created the group for security purposes, and the police, DSS, and Army were all informed and they knew about it, ” Al-Hassan said to Punch.
“A representative of the Nigerian Army and the DSS were present when we launched the group, and we also informed the Commissioner of Police.”
Bodejo himself has been accused of funding armed Fulani militia in the past.
Luka Binniyat is an award wining Journalist and a social commentator based in Kaduna Nigeria and writes on crime, conflicts and politics
