New Telegraph 
Musa Pam, Jos
The Northern Governors Forum (NGF) says it is concerned by lingering reports that herdsmen, belonging to a particular ethnic group, are being targeted in some parts of the South East and South West leading to loss of lives and properties.
Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State Barr. Simon Bako Lalong in a press statement, signed by his Director of Press and Public Affairs Dr. Makut Simon Macham and issued to journalists on Thursday in Jos, said the recent intervention of the Nigerian Governors Forum, led by its Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi, who met with stakeholders in Akure, Ondo State was aimed at calming the tension and find an amicable resolution of the issues.
Lalong said his colleague’s intervention was celebrated as a success to be sustained through further engagement between herdsmen and representatives of affected communities, emerging reports of attacks on herders and the gradual introduction of ethnic sentiments in the conflict is disturbing and should immediately be nipped in the bud before it gets out of hand.
“The Northern Governors Forum concedes to the rights of Nigerians to reside wherever they so desire without any molestation or discrimination, it also emphasizes that criminal elements should not be used to tar any particular ethnic group for any crime as that will portend danger to peaceful coexistence and national unity.
“Rather, such criminal elements should be exposed, isolated and made to face the law of the land without prejudice to their ethnic backgrounds as the motives or criminal actions cannot be said to be the position of their ethnic group.
“In the face of the recent worrisome developments therefore, the Northern Governors Forum calls for calm and cautions Nigerians, particularly those in the affected areas who might have been aggrieved or targeted, to exercise restraint.”
Governor Lalong said Nigeria is going through a lot and escalating such tensions would definitely not resolve any grievances but rather aggravate the situation to levels that could threaten national security.
