By: Sunday Ameh
The Yoruba Union, Ìgbìnmó Májékóbájé Ilé-Yorùbá, has commended the United States Congress for introducing a bill aimed at banning Fulani herders and groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, alongside several top Nigerian government officials allegedly linked to violent attacks and negotiations with armed Fulani militias across the country.
This was disclosed in a statement released on Thursday by the Union’s Convener, Olusola Badero, through its Home Director, Princess Balogun.
According to the group, the move by US lawmakers represents “a historic step toward justice and accountability” for victims of herders’ violence in Nigeria, particularly in the South-West region.
The Union expressed frustration that for years, despite numerous appeals to the international community, including the United Nations and the European Union, no decisive action had been taken to address the atrocities committed by armed Fulani herders.
“For too long, Yoruba communities have suffered untold hardship at the hands of marauding Fulani herdsmen who have killed hundreds of innocent people, kidnapped women and children, raped young girls, and destroyed thousands of farmlands,” the group stated.
The statement further lamented that entire villages in Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Kwara, and Kogi States had been devastated, leaving many people displaced from their ancestral homes.
According to the Union, the Nigerian government has failed to protect its citizens and has instead chosen to negotiate with the very groups responsible for the killings and destruction.
“The inability of the Nigerian government to secure lives and property has made them complicit in the mass killings across the country. The same government that should have ordered the military to flush out these criminals now sits at the negotiation table with them — collecting ransoms, tolerating their violence, and reintegrating them into society under the guise of rehabilitation,” it said.
The Yoruba Union urged the US Congress to go beyond the proposed ban and impose comprehensive sanctions on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, members of his administration, and top security officials, including the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
It also called for the suspension of all foreign aid to Nigeria, stating that such assistance had not improved the living standards of ordinary Nigerians.
“President Tinubu’s government has made life unbearable for Nigerians through anti-people economic policies that have crippled millions of businesses, heightened poverty, and worsened insecurity,” the Union added.
The group further appealed to the US government to revoke the visas of Nigerian public officials and their family members, accusing them of “living luxuriously abroad while ordinary Nigerians suffer.”
Additionally, the Yoruba advocacy group called on Washington to compel the Nigerian government to compensate all victims of herders’ violence — including the families of those killed, injured, and farmers whose livelihoods were destroyed.
It also urged an immediate halt to the government’s controversial policy of rehabilitating and reintegrating “repentant terrorists,” warning that such programs pose a serious threat to national peace and security.
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