Tobias Sylvester
Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has denied reports circulating online that he directed Fulani herdsmen to pay N500,000 for any person they killed in the state.
The denial was made over the weekend by the state commissioner of information and public enlightenment, Don Adinuba.
A viral video shows the moment Governor Obiano was seen agreeing with herdsmen to pay N500,000 to the family of anyone they kill, and the people of Anambra will also pay the same amount to the herdsmen if they kill any of them.
In reaction, Adinuba described the video as a fabrication by opposition elements in the state that were unhappy that Obiano has achieved the feat of making Anambra the safest state in the country.
He added that the purveyors of this fake information wanted to incite violence in the state using the doctored video. Adeniba said:
“They (opposition parties) have consequently been sponsoring all manner of lurid stories in the social media against the people and government of Anambra State.
“Having failed in a video to incite Ndi Anambra State to rise against innocent and law-abiding Fulani people in our midst, they have now resorted to online reports and fake videos claiming that Governor Obiano has promised any Fulani person who kills an Anambra person over cattle business N500,000 and N500,000 to any Anambra indigene who murders a Fulani over his crops.
“This is an unintelligent attempt at disinformation. Murder is a serious crime everywhere in the world, and it carries capital punishment in Nigeria. It cannot be compensated for with money, according to the Nigerian law.
“Human life is, indeed, sacred. The fact that some faceless politicians can carry their propaganda to the level of equating human life with money shows a total lack of respect for human life, let alone human dignity.
“These characters show no regard for law, order and peaceful co-existence. The hate mongers who have been trying to incite the ordinary people in Anambra State against fellow Nigerians conducting legitimate businesses in a peaceful manner must be held accountable should anything untoward happen to Ndi Anambra in other parts of the country.
“They must be reminded for the umpteenth time that they are putting in harm’s way the lives of millions of Ndi Igbo who are working in other parts of Nigeria as professors, entrepreneurs, engineers, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, journalists, business managers, traders, etc.
“These Igbo people should not be subjected to daily demonisation. There must be a limit to politics,” Adinuba said.
