The minister of aviation under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Femi Fani-Kayode, has condemned the attack on the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom.
Recall that a group identified as the Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Northern Governor.
The group had claimed that they attacked Ortom in an action carried out on behalf of millions of Fulani people in 15 countries.
Fani-Kayode in a post on his Twitter account noted that the group has foreign sponsors who are interested in destabilising Nigeria.
The former Minister urged the Federal Government to shut down FUNAM in Nigeria, declare them a terrorist organisation and arrest all members, friends and associates of the group.
He wrote, “FUNAM, who have claimed responsibility for the attack on and attempted assassination of Governor Ortom of Benue state, is a foreign-based, foreign-sponsored and foreign-manned counterintelligence operation whose sole purpose is to destabilise and destroy Nigeria.”
“They are closely affiliated with ISIS West Africa and often share intelligence and collaborate with them in joint operations. Though they do have a few local allies, in the main they do not represent the Fulani of Nigeria but only the foreign Fulani terrorists and their international backers who want to throw Nigeria into chaos, drive us into a civil war and cause us to slaughter one another so that they can come into our country in full force and pick up the pieces.”
“They are cancer that needs to be cut out of our body politic. The attempt to assassinate a sitting Governor by this terrorist organisation takes this whole thing to a different dimension. Ortom must be fully protected and the Federal Government must shut down FUNAM in Nigeria, declare them a terrorist organisation and arrest or eliminate all their members, friends and associates before they push us into an avoidable and horrific full-scale civil war.”
“The only other terrorist organisation that has had the nerve and audacity to attempt to kill a Governor is Boko Haram who have tried to murder Governor Zulum of Borno state. FUNAM must be viewed & treated in the same way as Boko Haram and the full might and force of the Nigerian military and FG must be unleashed against them. The murder of the innocents has no place in a civilised society and those that unleash terror on our people must be utterly crushed.”
