The Atiku Mandate Group, an association loyal to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 polls, has alleged that cattle breeders endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari because he protects them.
Three days ago, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) announced that it had chosen to support Buhari over Atiku in the 2019 presidential election.
Reacting in a statement, Sunny Areh, spokesman of the pro-Atiku group, said the endorsement is just like that of Boko Haram.
Areh said though strange, the Atiku camp is not surprised because of the “covert relationship” of the group with Buhari whom he described as its life patron.
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“The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria has drawn the is certainly one of the most destabilising groups that have wreaked havoc on Nigerians,” Areh said in a statement.
“This looks more like an endorsement by Boko Haram… it’s an endorsement of failure to protect lives and properties and a confirmation that there has been a covert and existing relationship between Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and its life patron, the President.
“It is strange but we are not surprised because being life patron of Miyetti Allah, he has guaranteed the group the forceful land seizures from citizens across the country for their cattle colonies. The endorsement is a reciprocity of being the protector-in-chief of its atrocities.
“It is laughable that an association that acknowledges mass murders by its members is pledging to collaborate with security agencies to fish out bad eggs within its fold, when it has always been known that the group enjoys state protection.”
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He asked Nigerians to be on the alert over the group’s claim to mobilise 20 million votes for Buhari, saying there might be “underhand strategies to use cattle grazing routes to caravan aliens into the country and also engage in cross border voting”.
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