sultan
Sa’ad Abubakar III, Sultan of Sokoto

Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III has claimed that armed cattle rearers who have been unleashing terror on people in different parts of Nigeria are not Nigerians. The violent nomads who are known by the generality of Nigerians to be Fulani herdsmen were described by the Sokoto monarch as “foreigners.”

In his Eid-el-Kabir message on Monday, Sultan Abubakar III said: “All those so-called Fulani herdsmen, moving with guns, causing violence, fighting with farmers are not Nigerians. These are foreigners coming into Nigeria to cause a breach of the peace of the nation. They are therefore terrorists and should be treated as such by the Nigerian security agencies.”

He went on to refer to the Nigerian Fulani herdsmen as “very peace-loving and law abiding.” He however admitted that there were problems between Nigerian farmers and herdsmen which should be resolved through dialogue.

This year’s Eid prayer in Sokoto led by the Sultan, had in attendance, notable Nigerians which included former President, Shehu Aliyu Shagari, business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal.