In the aftermath of attacks on some villages in Benue State by suspected Fulani herdsmen which led to the death of hundreds of people, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has urged Igbos to avoid consuming Fulani cattle.
According to the group, the boycott will forestall a situation where the herdsmen will infiltrate their land to wreak havoc on the defenceless.
The group, in a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful and made available to the media, said it was high time Igbos learnt to grow their own cattle that can be found in abundance in places like Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, Nsukka in Enugu State and Obudu in Cross River State.
The group accused the Fulani of trying to “exterminate the lives of Biafrans through their herdsmen”, whom they labelled “Boko Haram insurgents who were trained by their brothers”.
The statement read in part: “After putting our acts together, IPOB discovered that the Fulani herdsmen are determined to exterminate the lives of Biafrans through their herdsmen.
“We in the IPOB worldwide are calling on all Biafrans to stop eating Fulani cows and stop patronizing them. They will leave our land and stop raping our women and girls and they will stop killing our men because of our wives and girls.
“We discovered that these Fulani herdsmen are not ordinary people but Boko Haram insurgents who were trained by their brothers. We are calling on Biafrans to start eating goat meat, chickens and fish.
“Again, all Biafrans should start rearing their local cows. We have them at Abakiliki in Ebonyi State, Nsukka in Enugu State and Obudu Ranch in Calaber, Cross River State in abundance.
“If we Biafrans implement this without patronizing them again, they will leave our land without molestations because they were equipped with guns and we Biafrans don’t have guns and ammunition. “We also know that Hausa/Fulani don’t eat much of cow meat but have you asked yourselves questions why they don’t eat red meat?
“IPOB reminds you about what the Hausa/Fulani did in Agatu, Benue State and in Delta State where they kidnapped a traditional ruler and killed him and in Enugu and Ebonyi states where they ravaged, killed, maimed and raped our women and girls.”