By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Refusal by President Muhammadu Buhari to tag herdsmen murderers as terrorists encourages them to continue the atrocities, laments the Middle Belt Movement for Justice and Peace (MBMJP), citing the pogrom in Benue, Kaduna, and other states.
Rather than prosecute Boko Haram members, Buhari – the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces – orders the army to rehabilitate and release captured or surrendered Islamist jihadists without court trial or any sort of punishment.
The army on July 14 released 1,009 Boko Haram members in Borno State and set free another 1,081 on August 09 also in Borno, the epicentre of the insurrection where the jihadists launched their quest for blood in July 2009.
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has argued that the rehabilitation and deradicalisation programme is not working as those rehabilitated return to join their group.
Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) said “repentant” Boko Haram members become spies for their colleagues in the forest after their purported deradicalisation.
MBMJP insisted that if the federal government wants to end the killings it should stop treating herdsmen with kid gloves and immediately declare them as terrorists, per Vanguard reporting.
MBMJP Convener Joe Bukka cited the cycle of violence and killings in Benue and Kaduna and Abuja to treat Fulani herdsmen in the North the same way it treats members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South East.
MBMJP criticises Buhari’s double standards
“This government should exhibit honesty and sincerity in tackling the issue of armed herdsmen in this country, because we cannot continue like this.
“Armed herdsmen are turning parts of the country into a huge killing field particularly in Benue and Kaduna as well as several other states in the country and the federation has adamantly refused to speak to them in the language they will understand,” Bukka stressed.
“The Global Terrorism Index rates the Fulani militia group as the fourth deadliest terrorist organisation in the world; so our question is why is the federal government refusing to tag them a terrorist organisation like it did to IPOB and deal decisively with them?
“It is unfortunate that we are being taken through this path by a government that seems to be exhibiting double standards in tackling the security challenge facing the country.
“Until there is sincerity of purpose on the part of the government, which should start by declaring armed Fulani militia a terrorist organisation, the cycle of violence, sacking of communities, and killings will fester.
Herdsmen murder three-month-old baby in Benue, escalate genocide in Kaduna
Fulani herdsmen on July 21 murdered a three-month-old baby and a couple in Ulevkaa in renewed killings in Benue State, days after the Islamist jihadists launched another genocide on several Christian communities in Kaduna State.
In the past year, herdsmen have murdered no fewer than 100 Atyap natives in Southern Kaduna, burnt about 24 villages and destroyed hundreds of hectares of farms with food crops, as compiled by Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU).
The killings in Benue on July 21 came less than 48 hours after an attack on that axis led to the death of two aid workers and six others, including a kinsman of Governor Samuel Ortom.
An eyewitness told Vanguard that armed militia took over the Uikpam-Umenger-Gbajimba Road to attack unsuspecting travellers.
“They saw a commercial Toyota Picnic vehicle heading towards Gbajimba, they pretended to be passengers and waved at the car. When the driver became suspicious of them he increased his speed and made effort to flee.
“But the others who hid in front saw that the driver was making effort to run away with his passengers from the trap, they opened fire on the vehicle,” the witness recounted.
“A bullet hit the three-month-old baby on the chest and scattered his ribs. One of the bullets also hit the mother on the lap.
“The driver managed to escape with the passengers, unfortunately the baby died on the way before reaching the hospital in Daudu but the mother survived.
“Angered by the failed operation, the armed herders waited for other victims. One of them was identified as Terver and his wife, who they seized and slaughtered and dumped their remains by the roadside.
“Also, a firewood seller identified as Solomon Kumaiin, who was on a motorbike, was shot and killed by the armed herders.”
According to the eyewitness, on noticing what was happening, the driver of another vehicle directly behind the Toyota reserved and drove straight to a nearby Uikpam village home to an IDP camp and a military checkpoint to report the matter.
“The soldiers quickly mobilised and went to the scene of the attack. The attackers had already fled but they conveyed some of the victims to a clinic in Daudu,” he said.
The remains of the victims were deposited at a mortuary in Daudu where all the injured received treatment.
Escalating genocide in Kaduna
SOKAPU spokesman Luka Binniyat issued a statement on July 13 titled ‘The Ongoing Genocide in Southern Kaduna’.
The statement reads:
“For the 6th day running, armed gunmen, identified as Fulani herdsmen by victims, lay siege to several communities in Atyap land, Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) of Southern Kaduna and left no less than 33 people dead in an ongoing genocide and land grabbing in which 108 Southern Kaduna communities have been displaced and taken over by them since 2019.
“In the latest orgy of bloodshed, the invaders stormed Magamiya village last night around 11pm and started shooting.
“The family compound of the traditional ruler of Atyap Chiefdom, Agwatyap of Atyap Chiefdom, … Dominic Yahaya was attacked.
“Several blocks of flats and rooms that make up the family compound of five households were looted of valuables and foodstuffs which were carted into four waiting Hilux vans.
“The houses were then set ablaze. A relation of the revered traditional ruler, Mr. Toma Tauna, 70, was killed by the assailants.
“They went further to loot 6 more homes which they also burnt leaving Mathew Pama, 62, dead in the same village.
“After putting in about 2 hours of unchallenged murder, looting and arson, they armed herdsmen attempted to burn down St Pious Catholic Church in the village, but help came from other villages and [the] attackers retreated in the Hilux vans for another village.
“Magamiya is about 3km from Zangon Kataf semi-urban town where combined troops of soldiers and other security men are camped complete with patrol vehicles and armoured tanks.
“The same assailants returned and passed beside Zango Kataf town and drove 5km west of the town and attacked three other villages from around 1:30 am this morning.
“In the attacks, Matyei made up of 156 homes were all burnt. The Catholic Church in Matei and its pastorium was burnt. The Catchiest, simply known as Catchiest Yau, and an infant, were killed in the attack.
“In all, 8 persons were killed last night in Matyei in a violence that lasted for over an hour.
“The armed Fulani herdsmen then went down to Abuyab Community about 500 metres away and burnt down ECWA Church Abuyab and the home of Former ECOMOG Field Commander, Maj. Gen. Shekari Billyok (rtd) and 11 homes.
“Their attempt to attack Runji community nearby was repelled by villagers who got reinforcement elsewhere.
“As they retreated, they attempted to destroy the main bridge linking Matyei with Zangon Kataf town and other Atyap Communities, but only succeeded partially.
“Yesterday [July 12], before the night attacks occurred, the same armed herdsmen came in Hilux vans and attacked the Atyap of Makarau and Kachechere communities leaving 10 people confirmed dead, 12 houses burned after looting them.
“The ECWA and the Anglican Church pastoriums that serves the communities were set ablaze.
“In a nutshell, 20 Atyap natives were killed by attackers (who all the villagers that saw them) identified as armed herdsmen between afternoon and today’s morning, Tuesday, 13 July, 2021.
“The previous day, Sunday, 11th July, Warkan community, about 7km east of Matyei, came under fire by armed herdsmen, leaving 8 people dead. The village was looted and animals rustled before 11 homes were burnt by [the] invaders.
“On 9th July, 2021, Timothy Ayok, 35, from Makarau village, was ambush[ed] and killed dastardly by armed herdsmen as he returned from his farm that afternoon.
“On 8th July, at Kibori village, about 1km from Zangon Kataf town, a widow, Mrs Esther Patrick, 65, and her family of three were wiped out, including her 6-year-old grandchild, Yerima Godfrey.
“Therefore, in the past 6 days, at least 33 Atyap natives of Zangon Kataf area were massacred, 4 churches and 215 homes burnt by assailants always identified as armed herdsmen in a genocidal campaign that has … become very intensive since 2016.
“SOKAPU condemn[s] this wicked act and the complicit silence and in action of government from taking steps to bringing the perpetrators and their leaders to justice.
“Our Atyap members have been consistent in accusing the Hausa settlers of Zangon Kataf semi urban town of harbouring killer herdsmen, yet no authority has done anything about it.
“On the 31st March, 2021, some Fulani squatters on Atyap land complained that their cattle and sheep were killed by Atyap persons.
“In a swift move, 15 Atyap leaders from 4 indicted communities were arrested by troops, detained for days [and] handed over to Kaduna State Police Command Headquarters.
“The police alleged that the Atyap leaders, among them 85-year-old Waje Laah, killed 706 Fulani cows and 75 rams in a single day and buried them in a ditch same day, which every rational person knows is an impossible feat to accomplish.
“But all the same, they were kept in detention for three months without trial and only released on bail last week.
“Meanwhile, no less than 100 Atyap natives had been killed and about 24 Atyap villages burnt and hundreds of hectares of farmland bearing growing food crops destroyed by Fulani cows since July 2020.
“Not a single Fulani leader has been called for questioning.
“We are hereby calling for humanitarian assistance for the thousands of displaced Atyap women and children who are still moving away from several villages to various places around Samaru Kataf, Zonkwa and environs.
“We are also calling on NEMA and SEMA to provide immediate relieve materials to the displaced persons.
“We call on the Nigerian Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, the United Nations and all relevant international organizations, including local NGOs and Human Rights groups, to bear pressure on the Federal Government and Kaduna State Governments to stop the genocide in Atyap land and bring the culprits to justice.”