The leadership of Oodua Youth Parliament had on Wednesday reacted to the response of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association calling for the arrest of former president Olusegun Obasanjo after he released his trending open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement by the Speaker of the Youth Parliament, Abdulmajeed Oyeniyi said, “the Miyetti Allah has done what is wrong by calling the Federal Government to arrest the former President Obasanjo regarding his position in the letter.
“It is ridiculous for anybody to address the former president like that while several atrocities are been perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen and nothing is done to curb it all this while.
According to the statement, the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria give room for freedom of expression and the primary responsibility of government is to protect lives and properties of citizens.
“It is glaring the present government has shown low concern towards protection of lives. This is not the best time for Miyetti Allah to react to any statement that preaches peace and unity.
Obasanjo’s letter is national interest driven, as a former president he has all it takes to play advisory role in the peace sustainability of the nation”, it stated.
The speaker added that President Buhari should caution the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders, that it will be bad if other ethnic groups don’t have right to talk freely in a democratic setting.
“It is noted that the Fulani herdsmen enjoy freedom of speech than other ethnic group which is tantamount to nepotism on a particular side. In an ideal society everybody should be treated equal especially in a country like Nigeria where the president claims to have high percent of integrity.
We therefore urge the Buhari led administration to device all means to restore peace and encourage national unity”, it added.