The brutal and mindless killings in the country, especially those perpetrated by Fulani militias in the North Central states or middle belt of Nigeria may continue unabated as analysts say Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari continues to dither, is afraid or unwilling to order a clampdown on the known perpetrators of the killings even as they openly take responsibility for the actions.
Rather, the president was content to blame other factors including climate change and opposition politicians for the crises.
“We know that a number of geographical and economic factors are contributing to the longstanding herdsmen/farmers clashes. But we also know that politicians are taking advantage of the situation. This is incredibly unfortunate,” the president said in reactions to the Saturday killings in Jos.
On Saturday, June 23, 2018, in a renewed wave of killings this time in Plateau state, Fulani militants staged dare-devil attacks on defenceless citizens in eleven communities in Barkin-Ladi, Riyom, and Jos South local government areas of Plateau state and killed well over 120 people according to survivors, even as the state police command said only 86 people were killed in the attacks with 50 houses burnt.
Swiftly – and in keeping with their tradition of owning up to the killings – the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) took responsibility for the attacks saying it was an act of revenge against the majority Berom tribe of Plateau State who they alleged have been stealing their cows in the last few weeks.
“Fulani herdsmen have lost about 300 cows in the last few weeks – 94 cows were rustled by armed Berom youths in Fan village, another 36 cows were killed by Berom youths. In addition to that, 174 cattle were rustled and the criminals disappeared with them to Mangu. Since these cows were not found, no one should expect peace in the areas,” the group said in a statement.
The group gave a condition for the cessation of hostilities. “As it is today, the Berom man cannot go to farm, the Fulani cannot breed his cows in Berom Land. The attacks will stop as soon as the security agencies stop Berom youths from stealing Fulani cows,” the group rationalised.
But there are those who see a clear intentionality and careful design in the systematic killings in the region. One of such persons is Obadiah Mailafia, an Oxford-trained economist and former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
For him, “what is happening in the Plateau and indeed throughout the Middle Belt is not a simple question of “farmers versus herders” [clash]. It is a Jihad, an undeclared war for conquest and subjugation,” Mailafia said in an email response to BusinessDay.
“The military are not neutral arbiters in this genocidal war. They are always conveniently unaware when the killer militias go on a rampage. But as soon as the locals begin to react, they appear and disarm them of whatever little weapons they have to defend themselves. The people in power have a hidden agenda. And they are too ignorant to know that when they allow anarchy to reign, it is also like riding the proverbial tiger. The problem is not in the ride itself, but when you want to get off,” the don surmised.
Arguing for the right of the people of the middle belt region – from Benue to Kogi, Adamawa to Taraba, and Plateau to Nassarawa – to organise to defend themselves, the former CBN boss said
“The international laws of war as known since the days of Hugo Grotius, the father of international law, give a right to all people who face an existential threat to their very survival to adopt whatever means that are sufficient to guarantee their survival. The constitution of Nigeria gives the victim communities that right. General Theophilus Danjuma was merely reaffirming what is known throughout the civilised world. The enemies of Nigeria will fail and the people of the New Nigeria will prevail. I counsel our people in the Plateau to take heart. In the quest for freedom, lives will be lost,” he declared.
Equally, the Young Progressive Party’s presidential aspirant and former deputy governor of Central Bank, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, expressed shock at the deadly attacks at the weekend on Nigerians in Plateau State, as he condemned the Buhari administration for sitting idly and watching citizens get killed in their numbers.
A statement issued on Monday by Jide Akintunde on behalf of Kingsley Moghalu, said “I am shocked to my marrows at the news, just this weekend, of another deadly attack in our country – this time, within the Gashish and Ropp Districts of Plateau State. In this latest episode, scores of citizens were murdered by these rampaging killers. This is outrageous, and demands all people of goodwill to rise in its total condemnation. I extend my condolences to the families of these victims.”
“Let me state in clear terms, as I have always insisted that the first line of duty of any sensible government is the protection of lives and property. And we are all witnesses to the failure of this administration in performing that duty.”
“We have once again been told by the President that the perpetrators of these heinous murders will be brought to justice. If past experience and the track record of this administration is any guide, these promises offer us no assurance because similar ones in the past have yielded no real action. We really must ask: are we becoming a failed state in which the state has lost the monopoly of armed weapons to well-organized criminals?” Moghalu asked.
According to the President, Institute of Governance and Economic Transformation, it was unacceptable that citizens are not safe in their country, with the government seeming to lack any clue of what to do.
Meanwhile the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as extremely callous, inhuman and brazenly divisive, the statement by the Presidency on the gruesome massacre of hundreds of innocent Nigerians in Plateau state last Sunday.
The PDP said it is shocked that at the time Nigerians expected the Presidency to take immediate steps to restore order, safeguard the lives of the people, exert justice and bring succour to victims, the Buhari Presidency toed the path of divisiveness, which is capable of worsening the tensed situation in the state.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Monday said, “It is unfortunate that rather than taking actions to get to the roots of killings and banditry in the land, President Muhammadu Buhari resorted to political colorations by engaging in his usual blame game of unnamed politicians.
“It is equally disgusting that the Buhari Presidency relegated the main issue of the murder of our citizens and how to track down the perpetrators and bring them to book, thus confirming the fears of most Nigerians that this administration does not care about the lives of the people.
“PDP insists that the basic responsibility of government, which is to ensure the safety and harmonious living of all Nigerians, ensure that our laws apply at all times and circumstances, without any fear or favour, has been completely abdicated by the Buhari administration, thereby leaving our people at the mercy of marauders.
“Moreover, it is shocking that the President, as the father of our nation had no soothing or reassuring words for the agonizing victims of the attack but aggravated their pains with the unguarded comments attributed to him by his media aide.
“The PDP therefore demands an unreserved apology from President Buhari for his comments and manifest insensitivity to the plight of the victims of the Plateau massacre”.
In another development, a human rights group, the Advocacy for Integrity and Economic Development (AIED) has called on the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to declare the office of the President and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria vacant over the senseless killings in the Middle Belt.
The group said in a statement that the unabated massacre of helpless Nigerians across the country and most importantly the North East and North Central is a clear indication that the control of the country is “no longer” in the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari, urging the leadership of the National Assembly to step in and save whatever is left of the nation’s sanity by declaring the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria unoccupied.
“It is impossible to imagine that over 200 Nigerians can be slaughtered within a week and the occupant of the office of the Commander-in-Chief has taken no evident steps into ending the menace,” said O’Seun John, director of Media and Publicity of AIED.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has failed in his sacred duty to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians. The people can no longer be subjected to what is looking like a state sponsored attack being perpetrated by Herdsmen who are allegedly getting the support of Service Chiefs and top officials in the Presidency.
“We therefore find it of immediate national importance to call on the leadership of the National Assembly to convene an emergency joint plenary to declare the office of the President vacant and place all Service Chiefs under arrest for treason,” the statement read.
Suspected herdsmen in the middle belt of Nigeria, have killed over 847 people last year across five states, according to a report from the Global Terrorism Index.
Nigeria’s constitution says one of the most fundamental duty of the state is the protection of lives and property but under the current government, “The situation in the North Central is beginning to take the footing of genocide as against the claim of clashes,” the group said.
