Following a barrage of criticisms, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has described his controversial statement about the need for herdsmen to carry AK47 rifles for protection as a figurative allusion.

The governor also appealed to herdsmen not to carry arms saying he’ll do everything to protect them.

Mohammed said this in his speech at the launch of the 2020/2021 annual livestock vaccination campaign held at the Galambi Cattle Ranch, Bauchi, on Wednesday, February 24, 2021. 

He said, “What I will do, I will not say it here, but I will do everything possible to make sure I protect you and lend support to you because I know you mean well.

“Through time and history, you have been seen to be cajoled, and lampooned but you remained humane, you remained simple, you don’t show so much aggression and of course, that humility is always what we recognized and this is what a character that should always try to show.

“Please, don’t carry the AK-47 that I made a figurative allusion to. Try to make sure that you remain peaceful.”

The governor had recently argued that AK-47-bearing herdsmen are forced to do so because the government has failed to secure their lives and livelihood.

He maintained that herders need the AK-47 rifles to defend themselves from cattle rustlers and other challenges encountered on the road.

His statement generated controversy as Nigerians criticised and accused him of supporting illegality. 

The governor later explained that the primary objective of his comment was to avert the dangerous prospect of a nation-wide backlash and generalization of the Fulani clan as criminals.

He said it was inappropriate to label an entire tribe as criminals, based on the crimes of a few members of the ethnic group.