Insecurity, the New Normal
Violent crimes across the country are a stark reminder of how insecure the country has become under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, write Tobi Soniyi, Segun James and Shola Oyeyipo
As a general, many expect President Muhammadu Buhari to be tough on insecurity. Moreso, during his campaign, he identified security as one of the three major areas that his government would concentrate efforts. The other two are corruption and the economy. Buhari’s promise to tackle security challenges facing the nation was mere superfluous because the main duty of government is to protect lives and properties. Nevertheless, in view of the situation the country had found itself then, it was a good selling point to promise to tackle insecurity.
While the government has been unable to deny the fact that it has not done well in the handling of the economy, it has scored itself highly in security.
With violent crimes at an alarming spate, many are beginning to dispute government’s claim that it has achieved success in security.
No one is really safe. Anyone who escapes armed robbery can be kidnapped. If you don’t fall victim to cybercrime, you may get robbed at an Automated Teller Machine point. For those who live in vulnerable states, herdsmen may be their nightmare. Now that policemen are being kidnapped, anyone can be a victim of kidnapping. In the circumstance, nobody is really safe. Although, the police will tell you otherwise, that is the reality.
In August last year, a gunman dressed in black, stormed a church at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Amakwa-Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State and opened fire on worshippers. Not less than eleven worshippers were killed with many more others injured. Before then, many believed that their security was guaranteed when they were in church. This is no longer so.
In some parts of Lagos State, a group known as badoo has been carrying out a reign of terror and giving residents sleepless night. New Year Nightmare in Kaduna, Rivers and Kwara Ilorin, the relatively peaceful capital city of Kwara State was thrown into confusion on new year eve.
As if coordinated and planned to happen on January 1, the violence recorded in Kwara, Kaduna and Rivers States caught security agencies napping. Even though it is not clear whether each of these incidents had political undertone, they were clear indications of the level of lawlessness Nigeria has descended to.
In Rivers States, shortly after the new year celebration, some unidentified assailants in Omoku and Aligwu areas of Ogba-EgbemaNdoni Local Gvernment Area shot and killed 14 persons (residents are of the views that the figure is as high as 30). Many sustained various degrees of injuries from bullets.
Though, the reason for the attack was yet unknown, many believe that it might not be unconnected with the usual cult war and agitations for more share of oil money.
Reports have it that the unfortunate victims of the attack were worshippers who had gone to their various churches for the new year eve prayers. They were returning to their homes when they lost their lives in the unprovoked attack.
Almost at about the same time, precisely around 2a.m. the popular Ibrahim Taiwo Road area in Ilorin, were thrown into panic when some miscreants went on rampage and attacked four churches during the cross over services.
It was gathered that the youths were prevented by the community leaders from organizing a carnival for fear that the carnival might turn out to be a security threat, as it had happened in the past.
The attackers destroyed the gates of some of the churches, forcefully entered the premises, destroyed church buildings and vehicles and allegedly raped some young girls.
The Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said three people were injured, while the Special Adviser on Security to the Kwara State governor , Amusa Bello, said no fewer than 25 people sustained injuries.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN, Kwara State chapter listed Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Isegun, the Methodist Cathedral and the Saint Joseph Catholic Cathedral, all located within the Ibrahim Taiwo Road in Ilorin, among the affected churches.
But for the timely intervention of the governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, the fracas would have resulted in avoidable death. He did not only condemn the violence, he called on the police to quickly fish out those behind the attacks.
The governor should be commended for stopping a potential inter-religious crisis in the state.
Today, many Christians are no longer sure of their safety in Ilorin. They want the governor to guarantee their safety by preventing such attacks on churches and Christian worshippers in the state, particularly in the Ilorin metropolis.
Just as the people were celebrating the new year in Kaduna State, gunmen invaded Arak village, in the Sango Local Government Area of Kaduna State killing the paramount ruler, Etum Numana ll, Dr Gambo Makama and his pregnant wife. His son who sustained serious injuries, was rushed to a hospital. The monarch’s house was not spared either. It was set ablaze.
Sango, with headquarters at Gwantu, in Southern part of Kaduna has experienced series of attacks in December. The new year attack was the third within a week.
There had been an attack in Nindem in Jema’ah LGA where a lone gunman attacked Christians observing the Christmas carol on December 22, 2017, killing four persons and injuring eight others. The following day, gunmen attacked a nearby village on Christmas eve, killed six persons and injured scores.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai, like his Kwara State counterpart, condemned the attack and ordered security operatives to fish out the
Buhari’s promise to tackle security challenges facing the nation was mere superfluous because the main duty of government is to protect lives and properties
attackers. He described what happened as a calculated threat to peace in the area and the entire state.
According to him, the late Etum Numana was a peacemaker.
If you move to Plateau State, the stories are not quiet different. Despite the commitment of the state governor, Simon Lalong to put an end to violent crimes and killings, the state cane under heavy attacks least year.
Unstoppable Herdsmen
Lightning, they say, does not strike the same place twice. But for the people of Benue state and their governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom, it is now striking so often that unless something drastic is done and immediately too, the continued survival of the people is under threat. So is the case since the relentless activities of marauding Fulani herdsmen hit the state barely 24 hours into the New Year.
Just as the activities of the Boko Haram sect have been keeping the nation on edge in recent time, Fulani herdsmen have been moving from one state to another allegedly with AK47 rifles and other dangerous weapons killing and maiming at the slightest provocation. But how did this situation get so bad that the very survival of the country is now being questioned?
It is not as if the people of Benue state were unaware of the activities of the herdsmen. But after a few months without any attacks, the people thought the worst was over. But they were wrong. The latest attack came to them as a surprise as it happened barely a few days after the Christmas festivities and barely 24 hours into the new year.
The peoples defences were down, a situation which the herdsmen took advantage of to hack down over 50 people in a murderous rage.
In a coordinated attack reminiscence of the actions of the Boko Haram in the northeast, herdsmen wielding AK47 rifles attacked Tom-Atar, Umenge, Akor villages in Guma Local Government Area. Also in Governor Samuel Ortom’s home town Ayilamo, Turan, Ngambe-Tiev in Logo local government areas the attack was no less devastating. At the end, no fewer than 50 persons including nine members of the Benue State Livestock Guards were killed in the early hours of January 2nd 2018 during the unprovoked attacks.
The attacks on the communities which started late New Year’s Day continued to the early hours of Tuesday living several persons injured, many homes razed several persons unaccounted for and thousands of people fleeing their ancestral homes.
The state’s helpless governor, Samuel Ortom again repeated his call on President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal government to protect the people of the state from blood thirsty herdsmen who are over running Benue communities.
In a similar action across the Nasarawa-Benue states borderline, Agatu was still many miles away, passenger vehicles plying the motorway between the two states were already getting an eyeful of savagery of the rampaging Fulani herdsmen. In a village farm with fresh ridges heralding a new planting season, a young Fulani herder was perched on a cashew tree, his cattle trampling below him.
Armed with a machete, he cut off the lush branches, felling them to the ground for the animals to feed. The farm owners stood outside their huts and like the passing motorists could only watch helplessly as the cash crop was stripped bare and their yam seedlings destroyed.
The routes to Makurdi and on to Otukpo and Apa were characterized by the same landscape and scenario. Along both sides of the road were hundreds of farmlands with ridges and all dotted with cashew trees, mangoes and oranges; and all tempting sights to nomadic herdsmen and their livestock!
Agatu is not the first homeland in Benue State to receive what is now referred to as baptism of fire from herdsmen. Between 2011 and 2014, suspected herdsmen attacked dozens of communities in the four local government areas of Guma, Gwer-East, Buruku and GwerWest, some more than once.
Following the new year raid, Benue elders have declared that the murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen in the state as a “planned genocide” aimed at decimating the indigenes of the state.
They made the declaration while calling the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government to “stand up against the planned genocide in Benue State.”
The elders, under the aegis of three socio- cultural organisations - Mdzough U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and Omi Ny’Igede, condemned the perennial Fulani herdsmen attacks that have led to loss of lives in Benue State.
Speaking on behalf of the elders of the organisations, Edward Ujege, President-General of Mdzough U Tiv, alleged that “there was an alleged armed Fulani militia build-up and convergence at the Nigeria-Cameroon border and at the Agatu border with Nassarawa State.”
He said, “We the people of Benue State here represented by the Mdzough U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and Omi Ny’Igede, the principal umbrella socio- cultural groups of the Tiv, Idoma and Igede nations wish to inform the world of the callous and barbaric unprovoked attack resulting into possible genocide and destruction of lives and properties of the Benue people by Fulani herdsmen which incidence commenced on the 1st January, 2018.
“It was reliably gathered that the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore held clandestine meetings in Nigeria and abroad to visit mayhem and genocide on the people of Benue State.
“The plot was said to be multi-directional and aimed to simultaneously invade and attack Benue from every angle so that there would be no escape for our defenseless people.
“We are calling on political parties especially the All Progressives Congress, (APC), which is running the Federal Government to stand up against the planned genocide in Benue State.
“We are calling on all tribal associations to stand up to be counted on the side of Benue people in this trying times and where possible provide relief for internally displaced people who are amassing in the small villages that are yet to be attacked.”
As usual, all the president does after such attack is to issue a statement condemning it while also calling on security agencies to fish out the killers. Does it not bother the president that all this while, no one has been prosecuted for the attacks?
FLash Back to 2000
Back in badan, the Oyo state capital, Alhaji Lam Adesina, Oyo State governor from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2003 was confronted with an unusual and potentially explosive situation. It was on 13 October 2000, when words went round that General Muhammadu Buhari was leading the Arewa team to the governor’s office to confront the state government over alleged killings of Fulani cattle herdsmen in Saki, Oke Ogun Area of the state.
Mr. Kehinde Olaosebikan, the chief press secretary to the governor, said Buhari did actually telephone the governor that he was leading a team to his office.
He stated that in less than 30 minutes after the general informed the governor of his visit, “we noticed that the entire secretariat was already filled with lorry loads of our brothers from the North. This created some tension but we kept our calm. At about 2 p.m., Buhari arrived in a long convoy at the governor’s office in company of the former governor of Lagos State, General Buba Marwa, Alhaji Aliko Muhammed, Alhaji Abdulrazak and Alhaji Hassan. They all wore long faces. In fact, the anger in them was palpable as all pleasantries extended to them were ignored. ‘This is trouble’ was the expression on the faces of all of all of us in the governor’s office.
“Shortly afterwards, the state Director of State Security Service (SSS) and Commissioner of Police arrived. But their presence did not change anything particular on the fears that had already gripped majority of us. The two security chiefs did not come with any operatives, they came almost alone.
“The meeting was called to order after Lam walked into the Executive Chambers. Introductions over, Buhari spoke on their mission to the governor’s office. Emitting fire, the general accused Lam and the government of Oyo State of complicity in the killing of over 68 Fulani people in Oke Ogun area and perversion of justice.”
Buhari was quoted as saying: ‘Your Excellency, our visit here is to discuss with you and your government our displeasure about the incident of clashes between two peoples… Fulani cattle herdsmen and merchants are today being harassed, attacked and killed like in Saki. In the month of May, 2000, 68 bodies of Fulani cattle ‘rearers’ were recovered and buried under the supervision and protection from a team of Mobile Police from Oyo State Command.
“Some arrests were made by Oyo State Police Command in the massacre and they were immediate release without court trial. This was said to have been ordered by Oyo State authorities and they were so released to their amazement. The release of the arrested suspects gave the clear impression that the authorities are backing and protecting them to continue the unjust and illegal killings of Fulani cattle herdsmen…” According to the general,
These people (herdsmen) are not coming for grazing but for occupation. It is not about grazing of cattle but about taking over the land
they therefore wanted immediate stoppage of the killings, justice and compensation to the Fulani.
As weighty and indicting as Buhari’s allegations were, the governor was said to have remained unperturbed. He fired back with his own well coordinated arsenals. Adesina identified all the points raised by Buhari and simply asked the heads of the organizations directly involved to respond to the allegations.
Olaosebikan recalled that the commissioner of police spoke first. According to him, the police commissioner debunked all the claims. Instead of the allegation that the natives were killing Fulani, the commissioner said pointedly that the opposite was the case.
He quoted the police officer as saying: “The killing of the natives by the Fulani was duly reported to the police and, of course, we can’t make arrest because, as soon as they kill, they migrate to other areas. Who are you going to arrest? That is the problem”.
On the killing of Fulani, which he said was as a result of “piled up anger,” the commissioner disclosed that arrests had been made and the suspects were in police custody.
The Director of SSS in the state then equally debunked the allegations by Buhari saying: “The natives don’t have problem with the Fulani who are resident but those who are coming in, they don’t care about anybody. They just go ahead and when they graze the natives farms, whoever cares to challenge them runs into trouble. You said 68 people were killed and people driven away. I am not saying there were no killings but they cannot be more than five.”
Not done yet, the governor reportedly called in his deputy, Iyiola Oladokun and the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Michael Koleoso, both from Oke Ogun, and the chairman of one of the affected local government areas, Mr Ademola Alalade. They stated the true position of things, corroborating the submissions of the security chiefs.
Olaosebikan said: “At this point, all the tensions and apprehensions evaporated! Trust Lam any day, he must rub it in. He spoke for about 20 minutes and the Generals were at the edge of their seats for the entire period.”
The former chief press secretary quoted Adesina as saying: “Before I thank you for this visit, you have come to tell me something. I also want to tell you something and that something is to make an appeal. General Buhari has been a former Head of State, Brigadier Marwa has governed Lagos for some time and with credibility… so you are national leaders of this country. Even though, by accident of birth, you are from the North, you can be born anywhere; maybe next time when I am coming to the world, I will be born in the North or the South-South.
“My appeal will be that effort must be made to unite this country and that will be in the best interest of all Nigerians. I am appealing to the Arewa Consultative Forum, under which auspices our distinguished Nigerians are here; in recent times, they have been sending wrong signals to a number of us who believe in the unity and peace of Nigeria; you have been too critical of the efforts of the federal government. I am saying this because Nigeria, at this point, cannot afford to break and the words you northern leaders utter are very weighty. At the South here, we normally analyze them critically.
“I want to say also that we really have to appeal to our people, the itinerant Fulani Bororo people that they should observe less aggression. It is not good, it is not right just coming from somewhere then you just pass through farm lands cultivated may be with the person’s life savings and then over night everything is gone. That is not right, even Allah does not approve of that.
“We even wonder when they talk about this people carrying dangerous weapons; I say do they really believe in Allah? When you just take life like that and go away! Are we not forbidden not to take human life? So I think General Buhari, General Marwa, you have to be educating them.”
We have quoted Olaosebikan extensively to prove a point: as far back as 2000 General Buhari now President Buhari has been aware of the threat Fulani herdsmen posed to farming community across the country yet he appears helpless. Why?Do the lives of the herdsmen matter more to the president than that of the farmers?
He was quick to travel to Ibadan to demand an end to killing of herdsmen but did not think the people of Benue state who have been subjected to untold hardship and have lost many of their kinsmen to these unprovoked attacks deserved to be visited.
Fast Forward to 2018
Today the Fulanis have taken what was perpetrated in Oyo state in the early 2000 to other parts of the country. The situation is even made worse by the fact that General Muhammadu Buhari who led the delegation of Arewa leaders then is now the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The activities of the Fulani Bororo have not only caused anxieties all over the country, but his muted reaction to the killings allegedly perpetrated by the Fulani has left Nigerians miffed and the people wondering if the aggressos are not enjoying a tactical support from the power that be?
Angry at the unrelenting and audacious activities of the Fulani, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose described as worrisome, the silence of Buhari on the alleged killing of harmless Nigerians by Fulani Herdsmen, saying that the “wanton murder of the people of Benue State and the silence of the Federal Government on this genocide is a clear invitation to chaos.”
Fayose questioned when Buhari would put an end to the killings. In a tweet, he wrote, “I am deeply sad about the killings going on in Benue State. When will these killings by Fulani herdsmen stop? When is President Buhari going to act? Isn’t the silence of the President suggestive”?
The governor warned that the activities of the Fulani Herdsmen is inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country saying “Farmlands costing billions of naira have been destroyed in states in the South-West, South-East and North-Central zones of the country. One wonders how Nigerians can go back to farming when those already in the farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not doing anything about it.”
Fayose challenged the umbrella body of cattle breeders, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in particular and northern leaders in general to wade into the persistent involvement of herdsmen in attack on communities, killing and raping of Nigerians, saying; “Nigeria is still battling Boko Haram and the country cannot afford another regime of anarchy, which this persistence killing of Nigerians by the Fulani Herdsmen can cause.”
More worrisome is the fact that the Minister for Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh has remained in the cabinet even as his kins men are being killed. Many expected him to have resigned in protest by now.
What can a Helpless People Do?
After the killings, residents of Makurdi, the Benue state capital trooped out in their thousands to protest against the attack on farmers. The protesters called on the presidency to bring the culprits to book.
They took to the streets with placards with inscriptions such as “Presidential Intervention needed”, “Why value cows to Humans”, and “Stop this incessant blood bath,” chanted, “We will not vote for the present administration again both in the State and Federal level if this crises don’t stop”.
The protests involved mostly youths who barricaded major roads leading in and out of Makurdi, the state capital. The youth vowed not to leave the streets until the presidency spoke on the killings. They also asked government to intervene in the series of other attacks on some rural communities by armed herdsmen.
One of the protesters, Mr Terhemen Anum, said residents of Guma and Logo local government areas have yet to determine the number of peasant farmers, women, children and the aged that were killed. Also Mrs. Ruth Agba said the killing of Benue farmers, and destruction to their homes and farms was not different from Boko Haram activities in the northeast.
Governor Samuel Ortom told journalists that 20 people were killed in the mayhem as at the time he was speaking and that the figures were likely to rise. Ortom called on the Federal Government to wade into the matter so as to avert further destruction of lives and property.
As a form of protest, Ortom said he would withdraw from all political activities until further notice. The governor said he won’t be involved in any political activities until the herdsmen invasion in the state was resolved.
The governor, while lamenting the alleged herdsmen invasion of his state, said he has abandoned his 2019 ambition into God’s hands as the situation in the state does not encourage campaign.
At an emergency stakeholders meeting held at the new banquet hall of the Government House, the governor said: “I have decided to withdraw from every political activity until this problem is over. I cannot be a leader over dead people. 2019 is in God’s hand. This time, there is need for synergy, cooperation and unity among every Benue people across party lines.”
He added that he has reached out to the former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam and former senate president, David Mark to invite them for an emergency stakeholder meeting. “Yesterday for the first time in months, I called the former governor, Gabriel Suswam and former Senate President, David Mark to inform them about the stakeholders meeting today but was told the former governor travelled out of the country. This issue is beyond party politics.”
The governor also claimed that the herdsmen were not invading the state to graze but rather to take over the land. “These people are not coming for grazing but for occupation. It is not about grazing of cattle but about taking over the land.”
A Clueless Police
When he met with the president last week, the Inspector General Abubakar Idris, was asked what he was doing to stop the killings in Benue, his response was appalling.
He said: “You know I deployed my DIG there yesterday and you know we have. Different stages of police. You have the AIG in Benue, Commissioner of Police in Benue and all of them are putting their heads together to see how we address this issue of community problems in Benue.”
It is a shame that the IG’s men are just putting heads together to solve a problem that has been re-occurring even before the IG was appointed. That clearly was an admission that the police boss does not have what it takes to stop the killings. His description of the killings as a community problems also shows the thinking in government. Those in authority don’t see the killings as an attack by a group of aggressors against innocent people.
When he was asked to react to the claim that the police were being reactionary rather than proactive to stop the killings, his response was even more appalling. He said:
“Let’s use the example of Benue, you know most of these states where you have several languages, you know is an issue of communal misunderstanding. I think what we should be praying for is for Nigerians to learn to live in peace with each other, I think is very important.”
When the Inspector General of Police asks you to go and pray to stop security challenges, you should know that ‘you are on your own.’
The police in Benue confirmed the arrest of eight herdsmen in connection with the new year day’s attacks in Guma and Logo Local Governments while six have been charged to court for their involvement in the attack.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Moses Yamu, said in Makurdi that “eight herdsmen, six in Guma and two in Logo; have been arrested in connection with the attacks”.
He added that the command had made additional deployments to the troubled area to forestall further occurrence and restore confidence of the people.
Yamu stressed the situation in the two local government areas had been brought under control while investigation was on-going.
However, Benue people doubt if the police were actually doing anything about the killings. They are also not convinced the police have the capacity to stop the marauding herdsmen.
Apparently, the president has not demonstrated the necessary political will to stop the herdsmen, he should therefore expect the reward for his inaction during the general election. Will the president be able to look the people of Benue in the face and ask for their votes in 2019? Only time will tell.
When the Inspector General of Police asks you to go and pray to stop security challenges, you should know that ‘you are on your own’