Fulani herdsmen sack Imo community …Women raped, farmlands razed by rampaging cattle rearers From GEORGE ONYEJIUWA, Owerri Women and youths numbering over 1000 yesterday protested the incessant rape of women and destruction of economic crops by Fulani herdsmen who have overrun most of the agrarian communities in Imo State. One of the victims, a middle-aged woman (name withheld), from Ihe Umuapu autonomous community in Ohaji Egbema Council Area of the state, said the herdsmen who swooped on her in the farm while harvesting cassava raped her to a coma. The victim who escaped death by the whiskers after the herdsmen took turns to rape her, called on security agencies to come to the aid of the community to forestall further attacks, adding that several women who were abused by the assailants did not have the courage to make it public. A violent clash with the herdsmen in 2010 resulted in the death of three members of the community. Meanwhile, the committee set up by the council area to tackle the menace of Fulani herdsmen has called on the Imo House of Assembly to assist them in their fight against the invasion and threat of the herdsmen, noting that their means of livelihood had been totally destroyed. The leader of the group, Mr. Christian Anihe said, “our crops have all been destroyed by the herds of cattle.” Anihe lamented the growing incidences of rape, assault and murder of the women of the community by the Fulani herdsmen, saying the women no longer went to their farms for fear of being attacked. The traditional leader of the community, Mr. Sabastine Eze called for intervention of the state government to ameliorate the sufferings of the people like it did for flood victims. Member representing Ohaji Egbema State Constituency, Mr. Luke Chukwu also lamented the devastation of their farmlands by the cattle. He condemned the continued attacks on the people by the herdsmen. He said a swift and precise approach would be followed to provide a lasting solution to the problem in the area while commending the people for maintaining peace.

Honourable Baba Abubakar Suleiman is the Minority Leader in the Bauchi State House of Assembly.  The lawmaker was recently appointed as the coordinator of the Buhari Youth Organization for the North-east geo-political zone of the country by General Muhammadu Buhari, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate in the 2011 general election.
Suleiman, who is representing Azare constituency in this interview with newsmen in Bauchi, bares his mind on the new appointment:
Excerpts:
As the newly appointed leader of the Buhari Youth Organization in the North-east zone, could you shed more light on how you intend to go about running the organisation?
So, like you said, last month I was appointed by General Muhammadu Buhari as his North-east coordinator for the Buhari Youth Organization, that is to coordinate all the youth wings within the North-east geopolitical zone. Of course the task and magnitude of the assignment speaks volumes.
Before, I was coordinating only Bauchi, but recently he (Buhari) called me for a meeting where he decided to saddle me with the responsibility of coordinating youth activities in the six states of the zone.
Actually, as you know, it is going to be a daunting task but I believe Insha-Allah I will be able to coordinate all the six states in the zone. Right now we have started making contacts and networking within the zone; we are looking for an office in Bauchi which is going to be the headquarters of the zone under the Buhari Youth Organization.
Will that office be under the CPC as a party or under Buhari Youth Organization?
No, it is going to be under the Buhari Youth organization but not the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) as a party.
Considering the security challenges facing the North-east zone, how do you intend to achieve the aims and objectives of the organisation?
We have every confidence that success would come along our way because Buhari has teeming supporters in the North-east geopolitical zone.
It is true that there are enormous security challenges, considering the situations in Maiduguri and Damaturu, the capitals of Borno and Yobe states.
But we consider this responsibility as a task that must be achieved, irrespective of the security challenge. But the security situation is improving day by the day. If you go to Maiduguri or Damaturu for instance, people are returning back to their places of abode that were hitherto deserted. And I assure you these security challenges in the zone would soon go for good.
Have you started campaigning for Buhari towards 2015?
We are not campaigning but we want to put the machinery in place where youths will understand what we are planning or leading to in terms of contacts and mobilisation. General Muhammadu Buhari is a political asset to the Nigerian populace especially the north-east zone which has been his stronghold since 2003.
The task ahead now is to mobilise the youths because they are the active participants in any team or Nigerian project especially during or prior to elections. And now with the merger in place, nobody knows who will carry the APC presidential flag come 2015 general elections.
Despite all these, General Buhari is a household name in the Nigeria politics and for him being the leader of the CPC and if eventually the merger becomes a reality which we are very optimistic between now and June this year by the grace of God, the four political parties will collapse to form what was already know as the All Progressives Congress (APC).
So in that regard we are trying to mobilize the youths, telling them the ideals of General Muhammadu Buhari, his dreams and aspirations for our great country, Nigeria. And we will
There are allegations that PDP normally infiltrate Buhari’s structure and the party to thwart his efforts. What are you doing to stop such situation?
Well, we are all aware right from 2003 there are so many instances where there are infiltrations into the Buhari group or organization. 2003 to date is not a small period and therefore all the supporters of General Buhari and the party are doing all that we could to make sure we knock out the infiltration.
So I don’t think this will happen this time around, but I know there are some elements that whatever you are going to do, even if you look at it religiously, even our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had during his time witnessed some hypocrites and he didn’t know them until when God exposed them to him.
But don’t you think that the thirst for power among parties behind the merger deal will stall the entire project?
No, there are differences between merger and alliance; all that had happened in the past are alliance not merger especially in 2011 when political parties in the country had alliance. But in this case we are talking about merger.
In alliance all parties remain as political parties but in merger all parties involve will collapse to form one entity. Our experiences in the past have taught us how to deal with similar situations.