Gov. Simon Lalong

Farmers in Plateau State have denied a statement by the state governor, Simon Lalong, accusing them of moving about with AK-47s like Fulani herdsmen.

On Tuesday, Lalong, had while speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily, said Fulani herdsmen alone should not be crucified for bearing AK-47 as farmers also do the same.

The Governor had said, “I’m not justifying anybody to carry AK-47, but don’t forget that in the course of our deliberations and investigations, it was not only Fulani herdsmen that were carrying AK-47, but even farmers were also carrying AK-47.”

In his reaction, the chairman of the Plateau State chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), John Wuyep, described the statement as untrue.

He said, “In as much as people have the right to defend themselves, no farmer, to the best of my knowledge, was arrested for carrying arms and ammunition not to talk of AK- 47.

“Farmers in the state are law-abiding; they go about their business peacefully and farmers’ association in the state has received no case of any farmer caught with AK 47 or any weapon,”he added.