Members
of the House of Representatives on Tuesday blamed President Muhammadu
Buhari for the escalating killings by herdsmen in the country and
demanded decisive actions to halt the ugly development.
They said
the President’s silence showed that he lacked the political will to
tackle the problem head-on, demanding prompt actions by security
agencies.
The lawmakers, who reconvened in Abuja on Tuesday after
their Christmas and New Year break, spoke as they debated a motion on
‘Need for the Federal Government to Declare a State of Emergency on
Security over Spate of Deadly Attacks in the Country by Suspected
Herdsmen.’
The motion was jointly moved by Mr. Babatunde Kolawole and Mr. Dickson Tarkighir.
A
large number of the lawmakers also supported the position of the Benue
State Government that ranching of cattle would go a long way in reducing
the conflicts between farmers and herders.
A member, Mr. Hassan
Saleh, told the session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr.
Yakubu Dogara, that the Monday meeting with Buhari in Abuja did not give
any hope that a solution would soon be found.”
Saleh, a member
of the All Progressives Congress from Benue State, described the
government as having “failed woefully” in securing the lives and
property of Nigerians.
He noted that a government, whose body
language suggested that cattle had more value than the lives of its
citizens, had failed the people.
Saleh told the plenary about the
Monday meeting between the people of Benue State and Buhari over the
attacks by herdsmen and the feeble reactions by security agencies.
He
said the response the delegation got from the President did not
indicate that any serious steps were being taken to contain the
situation.
Saleh said, “What is happening is a failure of government right from Mr. President to all of us seated here.
“We
met with Mr. President yesterday (Monday) and our takeaway was nothing.
All he said was ‘go and investigate,’ (to security agencies).
“So, what is happening is that the political will to tackle this problem is not there.”
Another
APC member, Mr. Orker Jev, observed that the lack of political will
could be seen in the “fact that this government is not giving the
herdsmen the same attention it has given to Boko Haram.”
Jev dismissed the excuse that the killers were foreigners as another sign of weakness by the government.
He
said, “The political will is not there right from the Presidency. The
government is not giving the herdsmen the same attention it has accorded
Boko Haram insurgents.
“If the claim is that the killers are foreigners, is that not a failure of governance?
“Will
you allow foreigners to come into your country, kill your citizens and
you keep quiet because you have cultural affinity with the killers?”
Another
APC member, Mr. John Dyegh, told the House that there was a
“misrepresentation” of the anti-grazing law passed by the Benue State
House of Assembly by some interests, who were opposed to it.
He
informed the House that an impression was created that the state
government’s intention was to chase the Fulani out of Benue, adding that
“this is far from the truth.”
Dyegh said, “All the government did was to say that herdsmen could buy land, settle in the state and ranch their cattle.
“Nobody said Fulani people should leave Benue. This is where the misrepresentation comes in.”
More
speakers, including Mr. Rotimi Agunsoye, Mr. Oghene Emma-Igoh, Mr.
Sergious Ose-Ogun, Mr. Teseer Mark-Gbillah and Ms. Funke Adedoyin,
condemned the killings by the herdsmen.
However, two members noted that both the government and Nigerians had not treated the herdsmen fairly over the years.
One
of them, Mr. Sadiq Ibrahim, argued that while government, over time,
provided comfort for other Nigerians, it left the herdsmen to their
fate.
He stated that so long as state governors and Nigerians
were unwilling to make sacrifices to protect the herdsmen by donating
land to them, the violence would continue to occur.
Ibrahim opposed the idea of ranching, saying that the herdsmen did not have the technical know-how.
“The herdsman needs our pity. Nature has been harsh to him and government has not taken adequate care of him.
“We all have to make sacrifices in one way or another in order to address this problem holistically,” he added.
On her part, Mrs. Aisha Dukku, confirmed that a Fulani herder preferred to save a cow to saving his own life.
Dukku,
who is an APC member from Gombe State, said, “Where is the N100bn that
former President Goodluck Jonathan gave to governors to establish
grazing reserves for cattle? Why is nobody calling the governors to
account?”
Dogara, who had earlier welcomed his colleagues from
the break, noted that the killings could be contained if security
agencies were proactive.
He called on Buhari to constantly wield the big stick by sacking non-performing heads of security agencies.
“The accentuation of violent crimes is a chronic symptom of defects in our security architecture, which we must fix.
“I
therefore call on Mr. President to apply maximum sanction on public
officers who are derelict in the performance of their duties,” the
Speaker added.
Members later passed the motion in a majority
voice vote and set up an ad hoc committee to meet with service chiefs,
the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and the Minister of
Interior, Lt Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), for a r dialogue on the
killings by herdsmen.
Fulani men attack Taraba community, kill traditional ruler
Armed Fulani men on Monday evening attacked Karmen community in the Ibi Local Government Area of and killed a traditional ruler.
Caretaker
Chairman of the Ibi LGA, Bala Bako, confirmed the attack and killing to
one of our correspondents on the telephone on Tuesday.
Bako stated that the Fulani gunmen struck when the people of the community gathered for a security meeting.
He
said, “We have some security challenges in Ibi and we have been making
efforts to ensure that ethnic groups in our domain accommodate and live
in peace with one another.
“The Chief of Ibi also set up a
committee to find solutions to the security challenges, and it was one
of the meetings of the committee that the Fulani gunmen attacked,
killing the traditional ruler.”
The caretaker chairman added that one person had been arrested in connection with the killing.
Speaking
on the killing of eight other persons in Gishiri and Dooshima villages
and one other at Danwaza village a week ago, Bako said the killers were
the Fulani herdsmen who attacked the neighbouring Logo and Guma local
government areas in Benue State.
“We share border with Benue and
Nasarawa states and most times the Fulani men crossed from Nasarawa,
attacked us and went back, he added.
Benue, Plateau lost 14,000 people to attacks –Lalong
The
Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has stated that herdsmen have
killed about 14,000 people from both Plateau and Benue states in recent
times.
Lalong said this on Tuesday during a condolence visit to
his counterpart in Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom, at the Government
House, Makurdi.
Lalong, who was represented by the Plateau State
Commissioner for Town Planning, Mr Festus Fwanter, led about 30 persons
from Plateau to Benue State, including members of the Plateau State
Elders Forum.
Lalong said, “We are both the food basket of the
nation and we have both lost over 7,000 people each to herdsmen attacks,
as what happened in Guma, Logo and other parts of Benue State is also
happening in Bassa, Jos North and Jos South of Plateau State; and still
happening till date.’
“Plateau and Benue should set aside all our differences to find a lasting solution to these killings.”
Ortom,
who commended the government of Plateau State for the visit and stated
that Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue states had challenges that bound them
together. They include poverty, underdevelopment and insecurity.
He
added that anything that affected one state had affected all the three
states, stressing that the challenges were beyond them.
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Victims may opt for self-help –Catholic Bishops
The
Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria however warned that if the
Federal Government continued to fail in its responsibility of protecting
the citizenry against attacks by Fulani herdsmen, they might resort to
self-defence.
The organisation also advised the government to jettison the planned cattle colonies and come out with a better alternative.
The
CBCN also noted that Nigeria appeared “to be under siege from many
forces, while innocent citizens in different communities throughout the
nation are being attacked and their sources of livelihood mindlessly
destroyed.”
The position of catholic clerics was contained in a
statement signed by its President and Archbishop of Jos, Ignatius
Kaigama, and Secretary/Bishop of Gboko, William Avenya; which was
obtained by our one of our correspondents on Tuesday.
The CBCN
statement read in part, “If the government is incapable or unwilling to
protect the lives of its citizens before marauding herdsmen, people
might be tempted to resort to self-help in defence of their lives and
property.
“While thanking God and the Federal Government for the
successes so far recorded in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists in
the North-East, we are appalled by the repeated occurrence of other ugly
incidents that are tearing communities apart.
“The recent mass
slaughter of unarmed citizens by the armed herdsmen in some communities
in Benue, Adamawa, Kaduna and Taraba states has caused national shock,
grief and outcry.
“This will, no doubt, lead to a complete
breakdown of law and order in the country. To forestall this, government
should rise up to its primary responsibility of protecting the lives
and property of her citizens and ensure that such mindless killings do
not recur.”
The Catholic clerics said government with the array
of intelligence officers at its disposal, should take measures to unmask
the perpetrators of the dastardly acts and their sponsors, disarm them
and bring them to book.
“We believe that if there is some degree
of political will, our public authorities can take adequate steps to put
an end to these human tragedies and save the country from the calamity
of a civil war.
“It is wiser and easier to prevent a war than to
stop it after it has broken out. We, therefore, urge all aggrieved
parties to seek reconciliation through dialogue and mutual forgiveness.
Above all, we passionately appeal to them to beat their swords into
ploughshares.”
Stop herdsmen, ex-governor Ohakim tells Buhari
A
former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, has asked Buhari not to
destroy the country by allegedly keeping quiet while Fulani herdsmen
kill and maim people, especially in the North-Central region.
Ohakim,
who spoke in a statement by his media aide, Collins Ughalaa on Tuesday
in commemoration of the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, added that
the President’s reaction to the killings in Benue State was not enough.
The
ex-governor, who wondered why the military had yet to tackle the menace
by the Fulani herdsmen, stated that the way the Federal Government
handled the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra should be
applied to the killings by herdsmen.
Ohakim said the security
situation in the country had placed the burden of the unity of the
country on the armed forces, urging them to step up their game.
The
statement partly read, “Ohakim calls on the President, governors and
other elected leaders at all levels to elevate the Armed Forces
Remembrance Day from a mere ritual of speech making and laying of
wreaths to formulating better welfare packages and conditions of service
to the soldiers who risk all to protect the country.
“He
expresses shock at the rising tide of insecurity across the country,
wandering why the menace of herdsmen should not be tackled with the kind
of speed and force the Armed Forces tackled the Indigenous People of
Biafra.
“He calls on President Buhari to improve on the security
of lives and property, especially in areas where herdsmen now ride
roughshod with impunity. He said a situation where herdsmen always
overrun communities without a whimper from the Presidency in a country
that has a President calls for worry.”
IPOB calls Igbo govs Fulani stooges
The
Indigenous People of Biafra on Tuesday tackled the South-East governors
and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo for their silence on the killings by herdsmen
across the country.
The group described the Igbo governors and the leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, as stooges of the Fulani hegemony.
In
a statement in Anambra State by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary,
Emma Powerful, the group wondered why the Igbo leaders kept quiet over
the killings by herdsmen while they were quick at proscribing innocuous
IPOB.
It maintained that the unfolding scenario had shown that the Igbo leaders were taking orders from the Fulani oligarchy.
The
statement read in part, “In view of the ongoing unwarranted killings,
including the massacre of innocent citizens throughout Nigeria by Fulani
herdsmen, we the Indigenous People of Biafra and our leadership
worldwide, wish to ask South-East governors and Nnia Nwodo-led Ohanaeze
Ndigbo why they have maintained a cowardly silence?
“Why didn’t
they command their fellow northern governors and Arewa Consultative
Forum to proscribe or ban the activities of Fulani terror herdsmen as
northern governors and elders commanded them to do during Operation
Python Dance?
“It is on record that Okezie Ikpeazu and other
South-East governors, with the support of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, openly
announced in Enugu that IPOB peaceful activities had been proscribed.
“That
singular pronouncement by Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State gave
impetus to the military to hastily label IPOB a terror group.
“What
Fulani herdsmen have been doing is mass murder and orchestrated
genocide, yet the anti-IPOB voices from the South-East have fallen
silent.
“They are scared of making the same demands the northern politicians forced them to make in the case of IPOB.
“This
has clearly shown that South-East governors and Nnia Nwodo-led Ohanaeze
are opportunistic charlatans that will do anything to please the North
in return for power and wealth.”
Resist colonies, Abia monarch tells state govts
State
governments, especially in the South-Eastern part of the country, have
been advised to shun moves to claim their parcels of land for cattle
colonies.
A traditional ruler in Abia State, Eze Chinedu Emelike,
the Ezimba of Eziama/Mgbaja Autonomous Community of Ossah Ibeku,
Umuahia, gave this advice on Tuesday at the end of the community’s New
Year festivities in his palace.
He said, “Government’s effort to
colonise the people and their land is in the works, which should not be
allowed. The Federal Government is attempting to coerce the states to
donate land for colonisation and no longer ranches as the earlier debate
went.
“Now, there is general insecurity in the land. The
situation is now bad, especially with planned and sustained effort by
Fulani herdsmen to destabilise the country.
“Initially, we were
told that they were migrants who strolled into the country to kill at
will. Today, they have formed associations and supported by the
government. They perpetrate killings and nobody is apprehended.”
The monarch called for the restructuring of the country, adding, “It is a good plan on how to live together.”
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