The Federal High Court, Abuja has been asked to proscribe activities of Fulani herdsmen, declare them and their group, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as a terrorists and terrorists organisation.
The request formed part of prayers in a suit filed by a lawyer, Matthew Nyiutsa against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The plaintiff, in a motion ex-parte filed along with the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS499/2018, seeks the court’s leave to apply for an order of mandamus, compelling the defendants -AGF and the President to act on the activities of the Fulani herdsmen.
Primary, the plaintiff wants the court to compel the defendants to prohibit all activities of Fulani herdsmen in Benue State that has resulted in the deliberate and intentional killings, mascare, and wanton destruction of both private and public properties including residential and commercial houses, schools, hospitals / clinic, markets, water boreholes/reservoirs.
Nyiutsa also wants the court to order the defendants to apply to a competent court to declare Fulani herdsmen have alleged invasion of ancestral lands of the inhabitants of Benue State as acts of terrorism under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 as amended.
The plaintiff stated, in a supporting affidavit, that he resides in Guma Local Government Area of Benue Sate.
He said he is one of the numerous victims of continuing Fulani herdsmen attacks on communities in Benue State.
The plaintiff further stated, in the affidavit, that he has suffered substantial injury from Fulani herdsmen attacks since 2014 to date.
He said, in 2014, nine of his family members were killed by armed Fulani herdsmen including another 24 of his family members who were killed by Fulani herdsmen on January 1, 2018 at Tom-atar.
The plaintiff attached what he described as copies of death reports made by coroners and medical practitioner, and the programme for the mass burial of the deceased victims of the attacks by Fulani herdsmen.
Nyiutsa prayed the court to declare that the series of armed attacks, particularly from January 1, 2018 to May, 2018 on inhabitants of communities in Guma, Logo, Makurdi, Gwer-East, Buruku, Tarka, Katsina-Ala and Ukum Local government Areas of Benue state, by Fulani herdsmen, using sophisticated weapons like AK- 47 automatic riffles, which has resulted in the death of over 200 persons, destruction of both private and public properties like residential houses, hospitals/clinics, churches. Schools, bridges, markets worth billions of naira as act of terrorism.
He also wants the court to declare the alleged take-over and occupation of ancestral houses of displaced persons by Fulani herdsmen in Mbadwen, Uvir, Mbabai, Nyier, Mbayer/Yandev and Saghev Council wards of Guma Local government and some parts of Gwer- West Local government Areas amount to acts of terrorism as defined under section 1(3) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 as amended.
The plaintiff, who wants N50 million as exemplary damages against the defendants, further prayed the court to declare that the AGF and President have mandatory statutory duties and obligations, under section 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, to act in view of the alleged acts of terrorism being perpetuated by the Fulani herdsmen, by causing an application to lie before a court of competent jurisdiction for, inter alia, an order proscribing the Fulani herdsmen and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore having been reasonably suspected of carrying out the said criminal activities and acts of terrorism as terrorists and terrorists group respectively.
He equally wants the court to declare that the threat issued by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, through Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodejo and Engr. Saleh Al- Hassan as National President and Secretary respectively during a press conference at Kaduna sometime in June, 2017, to the effect of mobilizing their members and other Fulani herdsmen to cause anarchy in Benue state amount to support for act of terrorism under section 5 of the Terrorism (prevention) Act, 2011 as amended and therefore renders the said organisation liable to being held as a terrorist organisation.
