Nigeria’s Killing Fields

The country has been enmeshed in crises of interest between its farmers and herders resulting in losses of lives and property.

For the past one year, and even more, Nigeria has been witnessing orgy of violence resulting in the killing of its citizens virtually on daily basis in unprecedented manner. What started as innocuous clashes between farmers and herdsmen a few years back has degenerated into a hydra-headed monster, accounting for death of tens and even hundreds of its citizens. The crisis flashpoints are ironically the Agricultural Belt of the country with states like Benue. Taraba, Adamawa, Zamfara, Kogi, Nasarawa and Plateau coming under continual attacks. The crises are already heightening fears of food security in Africa’s most populous nation. More worrisome is the religious dimension the conflict is assuming, with the recent attack of a church in Benue and a mosque in Niger State where tens of worshippers and priests were killed. Precisely two priests, Rev Father Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, and 15 other worshippers were killed in an attack by armed herdsmen who invaded St. Ignatius Quasi Parish Ukpor-Mbalom in Ayar-Mbalom community of Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue on a Tuesday morning. No fewer than 100 houses in the community were also razed in the attack. A week after the attack, about 10 people who were returning from morning mass were murdered by suspected herdsmen in military uniform in Naka, Gwer West Local Government Area of the State.

The attacks have continued in Benue and many other parts of the country. Commissioner of Police, Benue State Police Command, CP Fatai Owoseni, said that some armed men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen numbering about 30 attacked a church, killing the two priests and others. “Immediately we got this information, we quickly moved there for an aerial surveillance in pursuit of the attackers. “We also went to the church where this incident happened. That was where we were told that the attackers came by 5am, went into the church, the venue of a burial Mass.” He added: “These attackers were about 30 in numbers and the target was the priest and the venue of the burial. As of the time l left the place, we were able to see 16 dead bodies, including those of the two priests. “The police have taken over the corpses and we have deployed men in the village. “We will intensify our search to go after these people wherever they may hide. We will also work on the information from the members of the public there because we believe that they must have been hanging in the area to have been able to commit the act at 5am. We believe that they would still be in the village.

The acting governor by then, and deputy governor of the state, Engr. Benson Abounu, expressed concern over the killing, saying the attack was well planned, coordinated and executed. “This is another black day in Benue. Benue is under siege. We have been attacked from all corners and this is unacceptable. The killing of the two Catholic priests and worshippers had sparked off protests across the state, particularly Makurdi. While the corpses of the victims were being driven to town, a large number of youths took over the major roads and streets, including the busy Makurdi/Gboko, Makurdi/Kafia, as well as the Wurukum Roundabout. The irate youths also set bonfires on major streets in Makurdi metropolis. All the major markets including Makurdi Modern Market, Wurukum Market, Wadata Market and High Level Market, as well as commercial banks and schools were shut. From Niger state, came a similar disturbing report where suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded a mosque in Etogi community, Gbara Ward, Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, and killed 21 people.

Reports had it that there had been a disagreement between some young men of Northern extraction and members of the community, during which a herdsman was killed. The herdsman had earlier asked for a piece of land in the community, for farming, with an agreement to pay certain percentage annually to the Village Head but the agreement eventually collapsed. It was reported that when the herdsmen were asked to honour the agreement, they refused, claiming real ownership of the land, which led to a fight that resulted in the death of the herdsman. Reports further had it that the other herdsmen mobilised and attacked the community mosque, where Muslim faithful were observing their early morning prayers. The Niger state Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the report, saying that 21 people were confirmed dead during the violence. Elkana said, “It is confirmed that the attack was a reprisal to an earlier killing of a herder by the villagers. President Muhammed Buhari condemned the attack on worship centres saying “Violating a place of worship, killing priests and worshippers is not only vile, evil and satanic, it is clearly calculated to stoke up religious conflict and plunge our communities into endless bloodletting.”

In Taraba state, no fewer than 20 persons were reportedly killed while about three hundred cows were stolen after a fresh outbreak of ethnic violence on the Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna area of Taraba state. The incident took place on Monday, March 5, 2018, same day President Muhammadu Buhari visited Taraba state over the killing resulting from clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the area. A fleeing resident, Saadu Mogoggo, said that his house was attacked at Leme suburb of Gembu. Mogoggo said two of his brothers were killed on Saturday evening and their cattle rustled by a group he identified as the Mambilla Militia. “As I speak with you, we are yet to bury their corpses,” he said. “The ethnic militias attacked our residence in Leme, where they killed our father last month. During this attack, the Mambillas took away over 100 cows. “My two younger brothers reported the matter to a nearby military base and a soldier was attached as escort to retrieve the stolen cows. Unfortunately, in the process, my younger brothers were both killed while the soldier fled with injury,” he added. “Since last Thursday they have been attacking our settlements and over 20 people killed. Some were buried and over 300 cattle stolen by the militias. “The Mambilla ethnic group is known for attacking other tribes. They attacked the Panso in 1982, the Fulani in 2002 and in 2017. When eventually we retaliate, the normal shouts of herdsmen will start. Let government be proactive and come to our rescue,” he added. And on May 4, no fewer than 43 persons were killed in fresh outbreak of violence in rural Adamawa and Zamfara states. Reports from Adamawa state had it that no fewer than 30 people were killed by gunmen that attacked three villages in Numan LGA of the state, while many others were reported missing. In Zamfara, 13 people were killed in a clash between suspected bandits and vigilantes in Fankashi village in Maru LGA. Residents reported that the attackers stormed six villages including Bolki, Bang and Gun at about 7am on Wednesday night and burnt houses as well as shooting fleeing residents. These incidents have been confirmed by various state government officials. The killings are taking their tolls on the affected areas and the nation as a whole.

According to a non-governmental organization, the Coalition on Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Nigeria more than 2000 lives have been lost to violent activities and clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the country. The group also said thousands of Nigerians have been displaced by the conflict in a report read by Barrister Maxwell Gowon, the leader of the coalition at a media conference in Abuja recently. The coalition said the figure was derived from its tracking of loss of lives, properties and other consequences of the clashes between the herdsmen and farmers in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa, Kogi and Nasarawa states and careful analysis of the situation using surveys, questionnaires and interviews with critical stakeholders as well as victims. Armed Fulani herdsmen. He said, “The Coalition, therefore, embarked on a review of the clashes with a view to making interventions that will spur rapid resolution of the crisis so that life can again return to normal for the millions of people that have been negatively affected. In the course of this review, the Coalition’s researchers visited some selected affected communities in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa, Kogi and Nasarawa states. “These states were selected using heat maps developed from interactively plotting reported incidents against locations on the map. The selected states, with the exception of Nasarawa, were chosen because they recorded the highest number and most intense level of violence in the 18 months that were assessed. “Researchers also polled officers of the military and security agencies that have been deployed in the crisis areas. Questionnaires were distributed; interviews were conducted, as well as surveys.” The group also said its findings revealed that some governors had turn the situation into a cash cow to further exploit their people for political and financial benefits rather than taking rigorous steps to fight the calamities. It added that it also observed that the changing aspects of these crises were poorly understood by a wider spectrum of stakeholders, which has impacted support for initiatives aimed at solving the problem.

Contrary to popular opinion, the group claims the outcome of the review has revealed that the military has been effective in returning peace and order to the affected areas through the arrests it has made. The report says, “This is being carried out without any sentiment by the Nigerian military and in a few instances the government forces were not spared by criminal elements. For example, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Tukur Buratai at an address on the deployment of troops to crisis areas said: “We have deployed officers across Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states where to ensure peace and stability for the development and betterment of our country.” The report continues, “The crisis between herdsmen and Farmers in some instances is instigated by persons without stakes on either side of the divide between herders and farmers. Unrelated hostilities between warring communities are also passed off as attacks by armed herdsmen. There was an instance in Benue State at Omusu where a clear case of conflict between Omusus and Okana communities in Okpokwu Local Government Area was reported as “armed herdsmen attack” even when it has nothing to do with an existing conflict between Omusu community and herdsmen.” The group also called for the extension of the Exercise Ayem Akpatuma in Taraba state to more states affected by the herdsmen clashes.

Meanwhile prominent Nigerians have continued to warn the country’s leaders to address the crises on hand before it is too late. Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has warned that if Nigeria must live, the killings around the country must stop. Pastor Adeboye said this when he paused his sermon at the church’s May Holy Ghost Service at the Redemption Camp to call on the congregation of thousands of people to join him in praying for the end of killings in the country. “When people are not sure about their safety how would they go out in parts of the country where killing is rampant to vote,” he said. A sterner warning from former Minister of Defence and an elder statesman, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), who recently , told Nigerians to defend themselves against killers in the country, saying the armed forces were not ready to defend them. Danjuma made the call while speaking at the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University, Jalingo, and the 10th anniversary of the institution. The former Chief of Army Staff stated, “I am not a politician and politics is one profession I don’t want to belong to because if I am a politician, I will not say what I am going to say to you now. “When I arrived in this arena, I saw rich cultural display and I was amazed at the rich cultural heritage of our people. Taraba is a mini Nigeria with diverse ethnic groups living together peacefully, but the peace in this state is under assault. “There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state and of course, some rural states in Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up.” According to Danjuma: “Our Armed Forces are not neutral. They collude with the bandits to kill people, kill Nigerians. The Armed Forces guide their movements; they cover them. If you are depending on the Armed Forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one. “This ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba State and other rural states of Nigeria otherwise Somalia will be a child’s play. “I ask every one of you to be alert and defend your country, defend your territory and defend your state. Defend yourselves because you have no other place to go. God bless our country.” The call by the retired general came barely two days after residents of the Takum and Ussa Local Government Areas of Taraba State accused the Army Operation Ayem Akpatuma (Cat Race) of providing cover for the killer herdsmen to attack and kill villagers in the areas.

The Chairman of Takum, Shiban Tikari, and his Ussa counterpart, Rimansikwe Karma, had, on Thursday, while conducting journalists round the villages attacked by herdsmen in their LGAs, accused the operatives of Operation Cat Race, currently going on in the state, of brutality, extortion and providing cover for herdsmen to kill the locals. Meanwhile, two Middle Belt groups and the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, have supported Danjuma’s call on Nigerians to defend themselves against killers. The President, Middle Belt Youth Council, Emma Zopmal, in an interview, said Danjuma’s words should be taken seriously. He stated, “For him (Danjuma) to speak about the herdsmen’s killings in Nigeria at this point in time, it means the situation must be getting out of hand due to the negligence of the government or its interest in the enterprise of killings. “With his strategic position in the world today, every bit of his words should be taken more seriously. I also do not think that this is the first time he is advising Nigerians to be careful with the situation of Fulani herdsmen killings.”

On his part, President, National Council of Tiv Youths, Chief John Akperashi, said Danjuma’s indictment of the military should be taken seriously. He stated, “By this therefore, the security establishments, especially the military, should be conscious of the reality that it (military) is getting unpopular and Nigerians are fast losing hopes in its capacity to protect and secure both the citizens and entity.” He however said it was not only Taraba State that was under attack. The youth leader added, “The entire Benue valley is endangered and there is an orchestrated, premeditated, sponsored and coordinated agenda to overrun the Benue valley through very dehumanizing and mind-boggling, demented schemes for which he, Danjuma, should be aware.” Afenifere agreed with the retired general that the killings were as part of “an ethnic cleansing agenda” which it stated that the people must resist.

Afenifere spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, said, “T. Y. Danjuma has said the truth. If the government cannot defend the people, the people should defend themselves. When you have an Inspector General of Police, who, instead of disarming herdsmen who are carrying weapons, is asking those defending themselves to submit their own arms, that shows clearly that there is an ethnic cleansing agenda and Gen. Danjuma is right in observing it.” As the crises between herders and farmers continue, observers are asking when the government will be on top of the situation to stop the killings. It is left to be seen whether the federal government’s decision to ban open grazing in some of these states will minimize the imbroglios or bring them to an end. But one thing is certain. The problems on hand will have great repercussions on the 2019 general elections. Time will tell.