Farmers in Plateau State have lambasted Governor Simon Lalong for accusing them of moving about with AK-47 weapons like Fulani herdsmen.
Lalong had told Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday that Fulani herdsmen alone should not be crucified for bearing AK-47 because farmers, too, have similar weapons.
The Plateau governor had said, “I’m not justifying anybody to carry AK-47, but don’t forget that in the course of our deliberations and investigations, it was not only Fulani herdsmen that were carrying AK-47, even farmers were carrying AK-47.”
But in a swift reaction, Chairman of the Plateau State chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, John Wuyep, accused Lalong of lying against farmers in the state.
According to Wuyep, “In as much as people have the right to defend themselves, no farmer, to the best of my knowledge, was arrested for carrying arms and ammunition not to talk of AK- 47
“Farmers in the state are law-abiding; they go about their business peacefully and farmers association the state has received no case of any farmer caught with AK 47 or any weapon.”