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Disturbed by the recent incessant attacks of Fulani herdsmen in different parts of the country, Nigerians seem to think it could be a step towards realising a hidden agenda
| By Olu Ojewale | Mar 28, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT |
NORMALCY is gradually returning to the Agatu Local Government, an Idoma community in the north central of Benue State, after the rampaging of Fulani herdsmen who invaded the place on Saturday, March 5. More than 300 persons were reportedly killed in the incident while thousands of others were injured and displaced from their homes.
The attack has since heightened the level of perceived insecurity in the country, especially in view of recent activities of Fulani herdsmen in various parts of the country.
But Bisi Kolawole, an assistant Police commissioner and Police public relations officer, in an interview on Thursday, March 17, assured the country that normalcy had returned to the troubled area with the presence of security agencies. Kolawole disclosed that as soon as Solomon Arase, inspector general, returned from his visit to the troubled area last week, he ordered deployment of more Police officers in the area to compliment efforts of security agencies already on ground. She assured that the IGP had also been working with other security agencies to find a lasting solution to the problem.
In the time being, the Police spokesperson said there were Police patrols in the area to restore peace and order in the area.
Contrary to allegation, Kolawole denied suggestion that the Police were overwhelmed by the activities of the Fulani herdmen. She said the Police were doing their best to carry out their responsibilities to protect lives and properties. “In any community there will be problems coming up, but the response is what we should be looking at. When a thing like this happens, we shouldn’t be looking at it as ethnic thing. We should look at ourselves as one Nigeria. Police are there to protect everybody. We are also using this medium to appeal to our people to live in peace.”
She assured that persons who carried arms illegally would be severely dealt with. “People who are not supposed to carry arms should not carry arms. The Police will not accept any excuse of using arms against fellow human beings, otherwise they would face the wrath of the law.
She said the Police were aware of illegal arms being smuggled into the country from neighbouring countries and assured that the Police were working to get everyone of them. Kolawole said this was one of the reasons, the IGP recently called on those bearing arms to reregister their arms to enable the Police to know people who have legal rights to bear firearms. She said unregistered arms would be confiscated and their owners would be prosecuted.
That notwithstanding, the scars and agony suffered by the communities that have been attacked by Fulani herdsmen will take some time to heal.
Kasuwa Gabriel, a female farmer, who spoke at the Agatu town hall meeting in Abuja on Friday, March 11, said that the invaders killed her son, who she had managed to train to become a medical doctor. “My own brother who was living with me was also killed,” she said. Gabriel said the invasions by the herdsmen started in 2013, and that it appeared the herdsmen were bent on taking over the Agatu area, because they had indicated that the grass in the Agatu was very good for their grazing animals.
At the time she was addressing the gathering, Gabriel also said that she had no family members or relations and that the dress she was wearing at the meeting was given to her at an internally displaced camp in Otukpo, an area in Benue State.
Two other men from the Agatu community also narrated their harrowing experiences at the hands of Fulani herdsmen. They also lost all their earthly possessions and now living off relief by good samaritans in Otukpo.
In his submission, Chris Eneche, chairman of Agatu network forum in Abuja, said it was important for government to take adequate responsibility for those affected by the crisis in the area. Eneche said compensation should be paid to immediate families, and there should be on the spot rehabilitation of schools, roads and various facilities destroyed by the herdsmen. He also recommended the immediate relocation of the herdsmen from the affected communities, permanent military posts and rehabilitation of major roads for easy access by military personnel and relief material donated to those directly affected by the crisis.
Ardo Boderi, spokesman of the Fulani community, alleged that more than 10,000 of their cattle were killed by the people of the area. Boderi said that the act sparked off the crisis but decried the role being played by criminal elements from both sides which he claimed escalated the crisis.
On his part, Akpa Iduh, who spoke on behalf of the Agatu people, said the Fulanis were bent on taking over Agatu land hence their resort to recruiting mercenaries to wipe out his people. He lamented that the crisis had escalated to a war situation where women, children and the elderly were killed indiscriminately by the invaders and urged the authorities to stop the carnage in Agatu land.
Disturbed by the carnage, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, took the matter to the Presidency on Friday, February 26, to formally lodge a complaint and asked it to stop the incessant bloody clashes between Fulani herdsmen and the farmers in the state. Apparently hapless by the spiralling turn of events, Ortom said that the sad development had claimed many lives and destroyed valuable properties.
The governor spoke to the press after he had met with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa in Abuja, to lodge the complaint. He told State House correspondent: “There are issues in my state especially the invasion of herdsmen in one of my local governments, Agatu Local Government… I think that the situation in Benue, especially in Agatu is getting out of hand.
“Right now as I talk to you, several settlements have been razed down, an undisclosed number of people are killed and my people are refugees all over the place. I cannot sit back in Benue State when such thing is happening. The security agencies within the state are also trying. The police, the army and the civil Defence and the DSS. We have been holding series of meetings. It is really alarming.”
But Abdurrahman Dambazau, minister of Interior, was apparently not as alarmed. It was only two weeks after that incident, on March 14, that Osaigbovo Ehisienmen, his chief press secretary, issued a statement on the matter, promising that the perpetrators of the inhuman act would be dealt with decisively.
Dambazau’s statement was the second official reaction by the federal government. According to the statement, the minister had earlier ordered Arase, to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the communities. Dambazua reiterated that government would not soft pedal in its responsibility to protect its people, adding that those responsible for the dishonourable acts were “unwittingly testing the will and capabilities” of the government. He said the present administration would not relent in its mandate of ensuring the security and welfare of Nigerians as contained in the constitution.
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered an investigation into the attacks, which was condemned by David Mark, former Senate president, who described the killings as “genocide.”
Mark alleged that more than 500 persons had so far been killed in the attack. He said: “I’m shocked beyond words at the extent of destruction I have seen here in Agatu today. This is unbelievable. It is unimaginable. Nothing whatsoever justifies this brazen act of destruction meted out on the people of Agatu. My heart bleeds.”
Mark, who was on assessment tour of the war ravaged communities along with some members of the National and state Assembly from his Benue South Constituency, urged security operatives to do all the needful to bring the perpetrators to book.
In any case, Enyanatu Ifenne, a prominent native of Idoma, said the crisis in the area must be handled immediately devoid of all political undertones. Ifenne said: “The crisis in Agatu is not a tribal war, it is not a religious war but a structural problem.” She said the structure of the Nigerian government system must be redressed to meet the immediate needs of the people. She said it was disheartening that when issues arise at the grassroots level it had to take the efforts of the state government or even the federal government to address such issues like the crisis in Agatu.
Unfortunately, while the whole nation was still crying over the audacity of the attack, rampaging Fulani herdsmen moved to Suwa and Burukutu in Lamurde Local Government of Adamawa State on Sunday, March 13, and razed down the two densely populated settlements.
Report said about 500 armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the two communities at around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday and continued their operations until about 8:00 a.m., leaving many casualties and several houses in rubbles. Hundreds of people were reported to have been dislocated from the two communities, renowned as the rice cultivating settlement of the state.
The attackers were said to be on a mission to avenge the attacks on their kith and kin earlier in the year following an orgy of violence that rocked Jimeta, Mubi and Lamurde, with some Fulani herdsmen alleging molestation by their host communities.
However, a government committee set up to look into the remote causes of the violence only recently submitted its report, saying properties worth billions of naira were destroyed in the attacks.
The report urged the government to set up peace and reconciliation committees in the local councils to forestall future occurrences and douse inter-ethnic tension in the areas.
Mark Adamu Idokwo, police commissioner, Adamawa State, was said to have visited the affected community.
Mercifully, early in the month, a similarly crisis between farmers and Fulani herdsmen was averted in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State following the poisoning of forage and water sources that led to the death of over 150 cattle. Mohammed Musa, chairman of the local government, quickly convened an emergency security meeting after a security report indicated that Fulani were mobilising their kinsmen to avenge the killing of their livestock. Musa said that farmers also accused herdsmen of deliberately destroying their farm produce and appealed to both sides to sheath their swords and give peace a chance.
He warned that government would not spare any individual or group who takes the law into their hands. He stated that two committees had been constituted comprising farmers, herdsmen, traditional and religious leaders with a view to sensitising their subjects on the need to give peace a chance.
The people of Abbi community, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, Enugu State, did not have the luxury of nipping Fulani herdsmen attack before they unleashed the mayhem on them on Thursday, February 11. Two people were killed and several others were injured while 19 people were declared missing. The siblings who were killed in the attack were identified as Fidelis Okeja, 45, and Mercy, his 50-yera-old, sister. They were having a conversation in front of their house when they were killed. The attackers numbering about 30 were said to have come out of the bush, hacked people with machetes and set buildings as well as motorcycles on fire.
Report also said that the herdsmen shot sporadically during the attack, which left a trail of confusion as people scurried to safety. Community members said they were taken by surprise during the attack and that security operatives failed to show up.
Similar attacks have been reported in various parts of the South. The kidnap of Olu Falae, former minister of Finance, in September, last year remains fresh in the mind as attacks by Fulani herdsmen continue to dominate headlines.
Apparently irked by the incessant attacks and attendant bad blood being generated, the federal government has expressed concern and the need to find a lasting solution to the problem. President Buhari in an interview in February promised that there would be a summit of federal, state and local governments to find a lasting solution to the problem.
Audu Ogbeh, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who is also a native of Idoma said efforts were being made to ensure that the crisis was addressed. “I have told the president, we will move the cows to their states of origin, we have to grow the paddocks and move them,” Ogbeh said, adding: “Nobody is going to drive Idoma people out of Idoma land; we are hardworking, committed and hospitable people but nobody will drive us out of our land.”
As part of efforts to end the killing of Nigerians by herdsmen, the minister revealed the federal government’s plans to grass up more than 50,000 hectares of land across the northern belt within the next six months. Ogbeh disclosed this while speaking at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, March 8.
Governor Ortom seems to be agreement with the plan. He also suggested that ranches should be built for the herdsmen, arguing that gone were the days when there was sufficient grazing land for the cattle. “Both the state and the Federal Government need to come together and do something because the state is not just peculiar. I am aware that this is also happening in other states too. Like I keep advocating, there is need for us to find a lasting solution which is ranches, that is the best global best practice. That is what is happening everywhere in the world,” he said while also appealing to warring factions to sheathe their swords. “We must learn to live with one another. The herdsmen must appreciate that the farmer lives on his farming and the farmer must appreciate that the herdsman lives on his cattle,” he said.
However, in the minds of some Nigerians, the matter is more than just providing a grazing place for cattle. Invariably, a number of sentiments have been raised on religion, ethnicity, territorial ambition and dominance.
Among those who hold religious suspicion is Dapo Asaju, a professor of Christian Studies and vice-chancellor, Bishop Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo. He said in an interview that the attacks by the Fulani herdsmen were systematically planned to carry out injunction of the late Uthman Dan Fodio, first Sultan of the north, to Islamise Nigeria. Asaju alleged that Hausa Fulani have succeeded in migrating to every nook and cranny of the country to position themselves and force their religion on the country.
“I come from Kogi State, we have Hausa Fulani in every area; they buy land there but you cannot buy land in their states. They come here, settle themselves and become ungovernable and become untouchable; they also have their own leaders in every southern community. There is massive invasion of northerners everywhere in this country, in Yoruba land and Igbo land. They are the okada riders, they are settlers, they are serious security threat. All of them are well informed; they have their transistor radios; they monitor BBC; their immediate agenda is to dominate,” the university don said.
While arguing that his submission was not to heat up politics, Asaju called attention to victims of those have been killed, raped and dehumanised by attacks of the herdsmen about their feelings. He said: “People are suffering; our problem in this country is that people lose their lives and are been dehumanised and we behave as if everything is normal. Because of the amnesia, we forget so soon tragedy. Many things are happening here; we are not heating up polity; it is a real problem.
“FG, state governments and local governments, police and other security agencies have to move otherwise where do we draw the dividing line between Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen?”
The don also argued against ethnic intolerance being alleged against the Fulani herdsmen. Asaju argued that before anyone could claim to be a Nigerian, he had to belong to an ethnic group. Besides, he said the country is made up different ethnic groups by which everyone is identified as a Nigerian. “We have our ethnic groups and we know who we are. You must be of an ethnic group before you can be a national. We must not eliminate your ethnic affiliation. But we must all submit to legal authorities. We have national structure and we should allow national laws to work. We should not make an ethnic issue to override our common interest as a nation. That is how to be patriotic, but in their own case, they think they are above the law,” he said.
Samuel Uche, prelate of Nigerian Methodist Church, also raised the alarm that the agenda of the Fulani herdsmen are both religious and territorial. “Let us not pretend Christian leaders are feeling that there is a secret agenda to decimate Christianity and make Nigeria predominantly Islamic state just like you have in other places like Turkey. Turkey was predominantly Christian before and Egypt was predominantly Christian before they were decimated through an agenda and they became an Islamic state. We will never, never, ever allow that in Nigeria. So, we are watching; we are watching what is going on and we are not happy about it,” he said in an interview.
The cleric said that Christians would not take arms against their attackers, but would continue to pray and help would come to defeat them. He did not elaborate.
Uche said he was convinced that the attacks were both religious and territorial ambition because of what happened in Chibok, Borno State, where the church lost 19 parishes. “Now, they have gone to Agatu, about 56 Methodist churches have been closed, all of them, so I am not happy. Farmers were removed from their houses, their farms, their yams burnt, everything they owned burnt and devastated. So, this issue of Fulani herdsmen should be addressed because they are becoming more dangerous than Boko Haram. What has informed my impression is that Boko Haram is Muslim, Fulani herdsmen are also Muslims, why, why?”
He, however, warned that if Christians were to be violent with them there would be no more Nigeria. “That is why I want government to sit up. The population of Christians in this country is 51 percent; this has been authenticated. We have been turning the other chick but one day we may not turn the other chick and everyone will run away from this country. I am not instigating that, but I am appealing that we should sit down and solve the problem,” Uche said.
But Femi Adesina, spokesman to the president, dismissed the religion connotation as baloney. He said: “I don’t agree. It is a height of fallacy to say that Fulani herdsmen are attacking people because they want to decimate Christians in the country; no! That is the complexity of our country that one religion is suspecting the other religion and all that.” Adesina said the attacks were based on misunderstanding and nothing more.
He also assured Nigerians that Buhari would do everything possible in the next few days to proffer solution to the problem. “About two weeks ago, the president in an interview said that problem would have to be tackled as result of collaboration between federal, state and local governments. He said he would talk to the governors and governors should talk to local governments and fashion out a solution to the problem. It is a very big problem. The president made a commitment that government at all levels would look at the issue and when the president makes a commitment we must be believe it. I believe we shall soon begin to see action in that direction,” he said.
That, indeed, will delight every Nigerian as the nation waits with bated breath to see the end of the menace caused by the Fulani herdsmen. But the sooner the issue is tackled the better for the country including the president who may have been seen in some quarters to have a soft spot for the herdsmen.
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