“So, part of that money was, I think, used by state governors under the committee chaired by the then Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam. But I don’t think the bulk of the money has reached the pastoralists, the herders.
Salah Alhassan, the National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has admitted that the group demanded N100 billion from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The admittance from the group is coming after the federal government denied it had a conversation about money to end incessant herdsmen attacks around the country.
The group made the admittance in an interview with The Punch on Thursday.
Alhassan said former President Goodluck Jonathan promised to give them the money and that was what informed their decision to support his re-election in 2015.
On if the money was meant to be hush money from the Federal Government, Alhassan said: “That is a mischievous statement. Do they pay money like that? Have they ever paid any money like that? That N100bn has been on the table for mini-ranches since 2014 when (former) President Goodluck Jonathan was trying to address the lingering crisis between farmers and herders.
“So, part of that money was, I think, used by state governors under the committee chaired by the then Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam. But I don’t think the bulk of the money has reached the pastoralists, the herders.
“As part of that policy, they (the Federal Government) are trying to see how they can now assist livestock producers to address farmers/herders conflicts via a policy.
“So, people now saying they have given Miyetti Allah N100bn to stop kidnappings are just being mischievous because from what we have observed, there are certain people that are twisting narratives.”
Alhassan lamented that some Nigerians didn’t want any kind of support to come from the government for livestock development.
“If we are going to have ranches, definitely, some support would come from government,” he said.