IPOB rejects Tinubu’s proposal for cattle Ranche establishment in Abuja

…vows to resist the establishment of RUGA S-East region 

By Cyprian Ebele, Onitsha 

The Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Tuesday , rejected in strong terms, the proposal by President Bola Tinubu to establish ranche in Abuja, disclosing that such a project by Mr. President is RUGA establishment in disguise.

 Making this disclosure through its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the movement said, “IPOB strongly condemns the announcement by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu proposing the establishment of Fulani cattle ranches in Abuja, the ancestral homeland of the Gbagi people. 

“This latest ploy is nothing but RUGA repackaged, a sinister land-grabbing strategy cloaked in government policy, designed to reward killers and entrench Fulani imperial expansionism in the heart of Nigeria.

“We must remind the world that this is how the Fulani established themselves as overlords over the Hausa people, through conquest, deception, and the systematic relegation of indigenous populations. 

“What began as the “need for grazing” centuries ago led to the total subjugation of proud Hausa kingdoms, the rise of alien emirates, and the transformation of indigenous owners of the land into strangers in their ancestral homes. 

“Abuja is about to witness the same fate if this madness is not stopped.

Is it not a shame that in the 21st century, the Federal Government of a country is prioritizing cow colonies over education, security, and innovation? 

“Is President Tinubu unaware that no sensible country in the world keeps cattle around its capital city?

” Let him point to any major city, from Nairobi to New Delhi, São Paulo to Seoul, where cattle are granted permanent settlements around central governance zones. This absurdity is uniquely Nigerian, and disgracefully so.

“This ranching plan is a green light for more bloodshed. The message to Fulani herders is clear: kill enough indigenous people and the government will reward you with their land. 

“What kind of country incentivises ethnic cleansing? What sort of leadership transforms mass murderers into landowners? What is this if not state-sanctioned terrorism?

“The land around Abuja belongs to the Gbagi people. They have no other homeland. To dispossess them by executive fiat is an unforgivable act of aggression and cultural genocide. 

“Today, the Gbagi are being pushed to the margins; tomorrow, there will be an Emir of Abuja. And in sixty years, just like what befell the Hausas, the Gbagi will be footnotes in history, reduced to relics of their own heritage” the group stressed.

“Let it be known that IPOB shall resist any attempt, direct or indirect to impose this toxic Fulani expansionist agenda anywhere in Biafraland. 

“No inch of our territory will be given for herder settlements, cattle corridors, or so-called ranching. Our forests, our villages, our farmlands are sacred to us, not bargaining chips in a federal contract of death.

“That’s how a serious nation handles its livestock economy, not by slaughtering indigenous peoples and seizing their homes under the guise of ranching.