Nigerians woke up yet again to another spine-chilling of killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen, in Benue State as usual. This time, the mayhem was visited on the people of Omusu village in Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state.
In a moment, over 24 human beings were hacked to death by armed herdsmen. The only justification for this crime was “theft” of their animals. Governor Samuel Ortom has again scheduled another mass burial. This is notwithstanding the fact that the people of the state are still mourning 73 of their loved ones earlier given a mass burial on the 11th of January this year.
Disturbing as the news may be, to an average Nigerian, it is not breaking news because the level of insecurity in this country has assumed such an alarming dimension that killing no longer makes news. It is the number of people killed, and the subsequent rise in the death toll that sometimes make news.
There is hardly any passing day in Nigeria without killings going on in one part of the country or the other, the highest casualties resulting from suspected armed Fulani herdsmen invading farming communities and killing anyone in sight, and the murderous activities of Boko Haram insurgents.
The marauding Fulani herdsmen, who have been graded as the fourth most vicious terror organization in the world (by Global Terrorism Index), have continued to wreak havoc on innocent Nigerians, Benue being the worst hit. An average Benue farmer, as it stands, is living at the mercy of these armed herdsmen.
There are nagging posers begging for answers. First, what is the rationale behind the launching of exercise Ayem a kpatuma (Cat Race) in Benue and the neighboring states? Why did the suspected herdsmen muster the courage to still engage in such wholesale massacre right while there is heavy presence of armed military men in the state, without any arrest whatsoever? Again, is there any political will or sincerity of purpose on the side of the federal government in maintaining security in certain parts of this country? Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state has called on the federal government to stop paying lip service to issues of security.
Now that President Muhammad Buhari has finally bowed to pressure, after heavy criticisms, to at least visit the state, he would be confronted with many questions, and the salient issue of the real position of Benue state in the scheme of affairs of his government. The many years of genocide, lack of federal government presence, and the gruesome negligence by the Buhari- led administration has, no doubt, impacted negatively on the sense of belonging of the government and people of the state who voted massively to bring him to power in 2015.
His belated visit to the state is viewed in many quarters as merely political, especially coming at the heels of his rumoured second term bid in office. Where was he when over 500 people in Agatu were massacred in 2016 by the same suspected Fulani herdsmen? Even thereafter, killings have continued unabated in the state without any effort from his administration to stem the tide, prompting the state House of Assembly to enact the open grazing prohibition law in 2017.
It is important to note that security of lives and property is the social contract between the government and the people. If that contract is breached, then the government has failed in its responsibility. But first, there must be political will on the side of government to succeed in this task.
President Buhari had said in Jalingo when he visited Taraba state on Monday, 5th of March,that “the number of people killed in Taraba are more than those killed in Benue and Zamfara combined.” Just as this was being said, 24 people in Okpokwu and 5 others in Guma areas of Benue State were sent to their early graves. One wonders if the number contest, and not the security of these lives,was necessary. Or was that a deliberate effort by the killers to level up with the Taraba casualties? Most disappointing is the fact that such needless statistics is coming from the number one citizen of this country.
How long will this genocide continue? Of what value is the life of an average Nigerian? Benue is renowned for crop production, hence the slogan “food basket of the nation “. But recently, farming has become a nightmare in some parts of the state. Farmers are now scared of being killed by these armed herdsmen who graze their cows indiscriminately on farms and threaten or kill anyone in sight.
Worse still, those saddled with providing security and defences of citizens have allegedly taken sides with the marauding herdsmen. The Inspector – General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris had earlier on insisted that the anti-open grazing law in the state be suspended as the only panacea to the killings. The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali also shared in this sentiment, claiming that the cattle routes and grazing areas gazetted for Fulani herdsmen by the British (colonial) administration have been encroached upon by the farmers in Benue, hence the persistent pogroms. Their biased position has helped to embolden the Fulani herdsmen. But what a country!
These views, howsoever analyzed, tactically align with those of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, who had, at the inception of the law, threatened to mobilize their men to attack and rubbish such steps. Calls by Benue state governor and other well meaning Nigerians for their arrest by the relevant security agencies fell on deaf ears. They made proof their threat on the New Year day in Guma and Logo LGAs of the state, killing 73 people. Yet, on the 13th of January, Alhaji Hussaini Yusuf Bosso,the vice president of the group warned that the nation should “expect more bloodshed in Benue”. His threats were published in the Sun newspaper same day. Since then, over 90 more people, including some police officers drafted to these troubled areas, have been killed.
The leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore,a Fulani umbrella socio-cultural group, has in many respects, claimed responsibility for the genocide in Benue, alleging that the open grazing prohibition law is not in their favour.If those in authority who choose to defend the killers’ interest, prefer to call them foreigners, then it is only in Nigeria that ” foreigners ” can pass orders to the citizens not to enact laws for the well being of their people.
The claim for grazing areas and cattle routes has invariably led to the pogroms witnessed in Nigeria for close to a decade now. These killings have had a wide geographical spread, cutting across virtually all the six geopolitical zones in the country, a move many suspect, is a Fulani expansionist agenda. Otherwise, if the opinion of the IGP, the Minister of Defense and the Fulani cattle rearers with respect to encroachment on grazing areas is anything to go by, then the entire country called Nigeria is a cattle route and a grazing reserve.
It is therefore foolhardy and a brazen fallacy for anyone to claim that the killer herdsmen are simply foreigners, with the kind of attention the federal government has given to their trade, including the subtle design to establish cattle colonies for them in every state of the federation .Howbeit, the unpopular decision was roundly rejected by majority of the state governors, apart from Kogi state and others in the core north.
The Benue people know who their killers are. They are the Fulani herdsmen. Their grandstanding and sheer arrogance are testimonies to this fact. What is left is for President Buhari to stop paying lip service to the all-important issue of security, and put a stop to these killings, or leave the peace loving people of Benue with no choice than to take their destiny in their hands and defend themselves.
Enough of this killing!
Joseph Orjime, a journalist and public affairs analyst, wrote in from Abuja. [myad]
