Herdsmen killings: We are now ready to fight Fulani, spill our blood – Benue youths

Youth groups in the Middle Belt have declared war on the rampaging Fulani herdsmen, saying they have signed their death warrant.

The National Council of Tiv Youths, NCTY, and the Middle Belt Youths Council, MBYC, have stepped out to defend their region.

In s separate interview with the Punch, the youths said they will no longer fold their arms and watch their people being slaughtered by the cattle herders.

The President of the National Council of Tiv Youths, Dr. John Akperashi, said his members had decided to die while making sure further attacks by the dreaded herdsmen do not happen.

He said, “The battle line has been drawn. The youths in the Middle Belt are ready and have agreed to rise up in unison to reject the Federal Government time bomb dressed in white robes.

“The Tiv youths particularly are pushed to the wall now and have collectively signed their death warrants, ready to pay the supreme price if that would count, to sustain and protect our lands from any form of colonisation, be it cattle, human or both.”

Also, the President, Middle Belt Youth Council, who is also the youth leader of the Middle Belt Forum, Emma Zopmal, noted that by its inaction, the Federal Government was telling the Middle Belt youths to resort to self-help.

He said, “We cannot sit and watch this manslaughter on a daily basis. Life does not have a duplicate and it should not be allowed to be wasted needlessly all the time. The days of mourning will soon be over in the Middle Belt.

“The Fulani are only 4 .7 million in Nigeria. How then can they continue being a threat to the whole nation of more than 160 million people that are not Fulani? Enough is enough; we are now poised for war.”