The National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Baba Othman Ngelzarma, firmly rejected the labeling of his group as a criminal or terrorist organization, stating that those who do so don’t understand its operations. He asserted that MACBAN is a legally registered association since 1986, with the Sultan of Sokoto serving as its Board of Trustees Chairman, and it does not represent criminal activities. Ngelzarma clarified that killer herders are not MACBAN members and are instead part of numerous other splinter pastoralist groups, of which there are about 30 in the country. He explained that because MACBAN is the most structured and democratic group, many pastoralists identify with it, leading the public to mistakenly think all herders are members. The President stressed that solutions to the crisis require properly understanding the struggles of pastoralists who rely on traditional methods for survival due to a lack of education on modernization. He further pointed out that MACBAN actively works to resolve conflicts and modernize production, having collaborated with groups like USAID. Finally, he stated that MACBAN is a victim itself, noting that eight of its state chairmen have been killed by bandits this year alone.
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