Cracks as Middle Belt groups disown North

Cracks as Middle Belt groups disown North

THE battle for autonomy among the constituent parts of the the North raged, on Saturday, with youths from the Middle Belt drawing a battle line with Northern elders under the auspices of Northern Elders Forum (NEF) over the concept of one North.

While the youths, under the coalition of the Middle Belt Council, threatened to ostracise any individual of the Middle Belt extraction trying to undermine the political autonomy of the area, the elders insisted on the sanctity of the North as a monolithic entity.

The youths, particularly listed a Second Republic Minister and current chairman of the NEF, Chief Paul Unongo as one of those leaders of the Middle Belt, who risked being ostracized for allegedly undermining the autonomy of the Middle Belt.

The battle of wits came barely a week after a stalwart of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Ambassador Yahaya Kwande declared as a ruse, the existence of a geographical area called Middle Belt, separate from the perceived monolithic North.

Unongo, who is a former Minister of Mines and Power in the First Republic and hails from Benue State, an area consider to be strong hold of Middle Belt, was recently appointed to lead the NEF following the demise of its chairman Alhaji Maitama Sule.

An angry president of the Middle Belt Youth Council, Emma Zopmal said in Jos, Plateau State, that there was nothing like a monolithic North, adding that the Middle Belt existed differently from the North.

“Middle Belt exists differently from the North and there is nothing like monolithic North. We have lost elder Paul Unongo to the Arewas and he can never represent Middle Belt anywhere.

“Unongo and others have lost the script long ago and therefore they are not relevant in the Middle Belt not even among the Arewas”

In a separate interview with Sunday Tribune, the Convener of the Middle Belt Patriotic Front, Mr Ibrahim Bunu said Unongo could not speak for the Middle Belt.

“Our main leader widely recognised now is Professor Adamu Baike who we strongly believe can take the Middle Belt to the next level. Right from the beginning, we have never been part of the North and will never be one. We have no alliance with the north.

“All these people from the Middle Belt romancing with the North are doing so for recognition and in order to make ends meet. They have no following here. They have been ostracized. We are watching them; 2019 is just around the corner,” he said.

But in another development, Unongo has submitted that the unity of the North is sacrosanct just as the NEF’s deputy secretary, Mr Mustapha Wali, faulted the Federal Government for not taking drastic step to nip in the bud the constant conflicts between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the country.

Unongo, who led NEF members on a courtesy visit to Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Saturday, insisted  that the forum would continue to  strive for the  unity of the North in the face of daunting challenges facing the region

Unongo said that the  meeting of the members would be premised on issues that will bond the North together.

He further said  that the leadership of the association fell on him with the demise of Sule and maintained  that over the years, Benue had been  part of the North.

Also speaking, Wali accused  Federal Government of not taking proactive measures to curb the constant conflicts between farmers and herdsmen which he said had spread  to many states of the federation.

Speaking on the anti grazing law recently introduced by Benue state government the scribe requested for contents  of the new  law  and enjoining the state government to ensure that the law  has human face.

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