The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has pushed apart allegations linking the group to terrorism and mass violence, insisting that such claims are counterfeit and detrimental to its recognition.
National President of the association, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said this on Sunday while addressing journalists in reaction to discussions surrounding a proposed United States invoice, H.R. 7457 — the Nigeria Non secular Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026 — for the time being sooner than the U.S. Congress.
Ngelzarma said MACBAN respects the sovereign moral of the united states to debate points linked to spiritual freedom and human rights however expressed exclaim of affairs over narratives that allegedly painting the association as a violent organisation.
He maintained that MACBAN is a legally registered body established in 1986 below Nigerian law and has operated overtly for a few years with elected nationwide, exclaim and native management buildings. According to him, the association is recognised by each federal and exclaim governments as a stakeholder in livestock vogue, pastoral welfare and battle mediation.
The group warned that any strive to blacklist or stigmatise legitimate organisations may perchance well location off economic losses, disrupt alternate and additional marginalise pastoral communities that play a important role in Nigeria’s livestock sector and rural economy.
Reiterating its needs, MACBAN said its activities focal level on bettering pastoral welfare, promoting up to date livestock practices, fostering level-headed coexistence with host communities and supporting security agencies in battle prevention.
Ngelzarma stressed that the association has never supported banditry, terrorism, kidnapping or cattle rustling, adding that no court in Nigeria or out of the country has indicted MACBAN as an organisation enraged about terrorist activities. He argued that it may perchance per chance well be unjust to attribute the actions of criminal people to a registered association.
The group also said pastoralists savor suffered carefully from insecurity, citing attacks by armed groups and bandits which savor led to displacement, cattle rustling and the killing of leaders. It claimed that no lower than eight of its exclaim leaders were killed by criminal ingredients in 2025.
According to MACBAN, it has collaborated with security agencies thru intelligence sharing, mediation efforts and participation in technical committees on grazing reforms and livestock identification programs.
The association called on the Senate Committees on International Affairs and National Safety to undertake a resolution clarifying the legislature’s enviornment on what it described as misleading global narratives. It also urged the National Meeting to engage U.S. lawmakers thru parliamentary diplomacy.
MACBAN additional appealed to the Minister of International Affairs, alongside the Place of job of the National Safety Adviser, to provoke diplomatic engagement with American authorities to contemporary evidence of its trusty location and compliance with Nigerian rules.
While cautioning against generalised profiling of communities, the association urged local and global media to preserve far from sensational reporting that may perchance well infuriate tensions.
Reaffirming its dedication to nationwide solidarity and level-headed coexistence, MACBAN said accountability need to remain evidence-essentially essentially based and warned against global actions that, in its glance, may perchance well undermine legitimate Nigerian institutions.
