MACBAN Refutes Links To Criminal Activities
The National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Baba Ngelzarma, on Tuesday denied claims that the group is a criminal organisation, describing such allegations as a misunderstanding of its structure and activities.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Ngelzarma stressed that individuals involved in herder-related violence are not members of MACBAN, noting that several splinter factions are operating independently from the main association.
He said: “MACBAN does not represent any criminal activities, we are never a criminal group, we are an association that was duly registered in 1986 and was registered by General John Shagaya when he was the Minister of Internal Affairs, a Christian from Plateau State.
“His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, is the Chairman BoT of MACBAN, so we never represent any criminal activities in this country, and we are never a criminal group.
“Let me make it clear that MACBAN is not the only rearing group in the country; we have a lot of them, ranging to about 30 pastoralist groups that all have members, but because MACBAN is well structured and the only Democratic group of pastoralists in the country, every pastoralist identifies with it, and people think that all pastoralists are members of MACBAN.
He advised that the dynamics of the crisis must be well understood before a solution can be proffered, stressing that pastoralists in the country are those practicing pastoralism, which is the only solution for them to survive.
“They are not educated on how to monidenise, so they are doing this for the animal to survive.
“Whoever is trying to designate MACBAN as a criminal group does not understand anything about MACBAN. MACBAN has been engaged with USAID for years, Search for Common Ground for Humanitarian dialogue for years on how to mitigate the crisis with farmers, and modernise the production system.
“We lost about eight of our state chairmen to banditry attack, just this year alone, we lost a state chairman in Kwara, who was killed in his house, we lost a chairman in Katsina, he was assassinated in his house, his wife and daughter were taken away,” he added.