Declare Herdsmen Terrorists, Prof Soyinka Tells President Buhari

Declare Herdsmen Terrorists, Prof Soyinka Tells President Buhari

Professor Wole Soyinka has asked the Federal Government to declare rampaging Fulani herdsmen as terrorists in the wake of brutal attacks in states across the country.

Soyinka said this on Thursday in Lagos during the Ripples Nigeria Dialogue; an annual forum designed to broaden the conversation on issues troubling the nation, Channels writes.

The Nobel Laureate said it is high time the Federal Government took a firm stand on the carnage and utter destruction wreaked by murderous herders across the middle-belt and other parts of the country.

He also enjoined Nigerians to wake up and stand against capital punishment being suggested in the proposed Hate Speech Bill by the National Assembly.

“Life has become so trite, so cheap, that a group of supposedly rational, intelligent people in this world, especially a world that is trying to get rid of its degrading punishment called capital punishment and they come and decree handing, No, they’re not going to hang anybody.

“They just want an instrument to silence people. It is ironic of course that I should call Nigerian’s to resist this law,” he said.

Also present at the parley were economist and social critic, Dr Pat Utomi; Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi; Human rights activist, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi and former presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati.