Major streets in Maiduguri suffered heavy traffic gridlock as protesting students call on the government to rid the state of Fulani Herdsmen.
Members of the National Union of Benue State Students took to the major streets of Makurdi on Thursday, March 16, 2017, to protest the killing of one of their colleagues by armed herdsmen over the weekend.
Punch reports that the roads around the Wurukum Roundabout and the entrance to the Benue State University were blocked by the students for over two hours, causing traffic gridlock in those areas.
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The victim is reported to have traveled home to inform his parents of his success in completing his final year project when he was murdered by the herdsmen.
According to the reports, the students chanted war songs, carried placards with inscriptions, such as; ‘enough of Fulani Killings in Benue’, ‘herdsmen must go’, ‘no more grazing in Benue’, etc, while calling on the Benue and federal governments to put a quick stop to the killing of innocent citizens of the state.
While addressing the aggrieved crowd of students, Joshua Tarbunde, who led the protest, appealed to the Benue State House of Assembly to pass the anti-grazing bill to phase out killer herdsmen from the state.
He said, ”We don’t want Fulani in our communities in Benue, Fulani must leave us alone because we have no power to fight them. Just take a look at this, this innocent boy had suffered all through in the university and only for him to be killed by Fulani men after he left school for home to inform his poor parents in the village about his success in the school so far.”
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Punch reports that it took the intervention of the police to calm down the students and clear the blockades placed on major roads, allowing commuters to continue on their journey.
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