Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has
attributed the unrelenting violence being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen
to the refusal of the Federal Government to arrest and punish the
herders for the serial killings across the country.
The renowned playwright described as a
promotion of “undisputed impunity” the failure of the government to
offer “legal, logical and moral response” to the spate of killings by
the cattle rearers.
In his speech tilted, ‘The Killing
Culture of the Neo-Nomadic’, which was presented at the National
Conference on Culture and Tourism in Abuja on Thursday,
Soyinka stated
that it was shocking that the government had yet to make a terse
statement against the killings done by the herdsmen.
Admitting that Boko Haram insurgents
might no longer be as potent as the militants used to be, Soyinka argued
that the terrorists already had worthy successors in the herdsmen, whom
he alleged recently “invaded” his country home in Abeokuta while he was
away.
He said, “It is not merely arbitrary
violence that reigns across the nation but total, undisputed impunity.
Impunity evolves and becomes integrated in conduct when crime occurs and
no legal, logical and moral response is offered.
“I have yet to hear this government
articulate a firm policy of non-tolerance for the serial massacres that
have become the nation’s identification stamp. I have not heard an
order given that any cattle herders caught with sophisticated firearms
be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial, and his cattle
confiscated.
“Recently, however, I returned from a
trip outside the country about to find that my home ground had been
invaded, and a brand-new, Appian way sliced through my sanctuary. That
motorable path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the improvised
entry and exit are now blocked, but interested journalists are invited
to visit.”
Soyinka added, “In over two decades of
living in that ecological preserve, no such intrusion had ever occurred.
I have no idea whether they were Fulani or Futa Jalon herdsmen but,
they were cattle herders, and they had cut a crude swathe through my
private grounds.
“I made enquiries and sent alerts
around, including through the Baale (community head) of our
neighbourhood village. There has been no repeat, and hopefully it will
remain the first and last of such invasion. What it portends however is
for all thinking citizens to reflect upon, and take concerted measures
against.”
Soyinka condemned the promise of
President Muhammadu Buhari to end farmers-herdsmen clashes and arbitrary
ranching across the country in 18 months, saying this was tantamount to
appealing to the violent herders.
The playwright added, “The nation is
treated to an 18-month optimistic plan which, to make matters worse,
smacks of abject appeasement and encouragement of violence on innocents.
Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I
have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising
language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this
unconscionable bloodletting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate
its founding clerics.”
Herdsmen’s menace threatening Nigeria’s unity – Igbo senators
The South-East Senate Caucus on Thursday
warned of imminent danger and possible threat to the unity of Nigeria
if the Federal Government failed to urgently address the Enugu massacre
carried out by Fulani herdsmen.
The Igbo senators stated this in a
statement by the member, representing Abia South in the upper chamber,
Enyinaya Abaribe, at the end of their emergency meeting held in Abuja.
They did not only condemn the attack,
which left over 50 persons dead and scores driven out of their homes,
but also called for a summit of the South-East and South-South states on
the issue.
They said governors, members of the
National and state Houses of Assembly, socio-cultural associations,
traditional rulers and major stakeholders should mandatorily be part of
the proposed meeting.
According to the lawmakers, the
emergency summit will review and evaluate the very scary situation and
proffer a coordinated response that will ensure the security of lives
and property of their people.
The caucus added, “We can no longer sit
and watch while our people are daily slaughtered like fowls without even
attracting the cursory routine condemnation by the Presidency.
“We are even more appalled that despite
the alarm raised by the Ukpabi Nimbo community of an imminent attack by
the Fulani herdsmen and the associated vague assurances by the chairman
of Fulani community in Enugu that such attack would not happen, yet the
security agencies failed to prevent the attack that happened two days
after the alarm.
“It is disheartening what is happening,
and somebody has to take responsibility. That somebody has to be the
institution of the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday set up
an ad hoc committee to conduct comprehensive investigations into the
attacks in Nimbo community and recommend ways of curtailing future
attacks across the country.
This followed the adoption of a motion
by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North) at the plenary presided
over by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who is also from
Enugu State.
The senators, at the end of the debate,
which lasted for about one hour and 30 minutes, also summoned the
Service Chiefs to appear before them and brief them in a closed-door
session.
They also urged the Nigeria Police Force
to introduce stop-and-search of the herdsmen moving in the bush or on
the main roads to detect those who could be carrying arms.
PFN blames police for attacks
Also, the Pentecostal Fellowship of
Nigeria, Enugu State Chapter, blamed the Nigeria Police Force for
failing to stop the attack.
The state chapter of the PFN spoke in a
communique released after an emergency meeting in Enugu, which was
convened over the Ukpabi Nimbo killings.
In the communique, which was signed by
the state PFN chairman, Rev. Dr. Goddy Madu, and the Head of Security,
Joseph Ajujungwa, the group described as “barbaric, wicked and inhuman,
the attack on the people of Nimbo in the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area
of Enugu State by the Fulani-Hausa herdsmen.”
The Christian body noted that the attack had shown that the police were not reliable and should not be trusted.
“The Fulani herdsmen invaded the
community with over 500 armed men, who were drawn from both Nasarawa and
Kogi states, killing over 50 people in their homes and destroy some
churches and buildings.
“This is not the first and the Nigeria
Police did nothing, rather they filled the Enugu urban with vehicles
that cannot respond to distress calls, but are busy collecting N20 and
N50 from keke and motorists,” the communique read.
In a related development, the Enugu
State Police Command has refuted reports that a fresh herdsmen attack
was recorded in another Enugu community, Umuchigbo, on Wednesday.
The Police Public Relations Officer for
the command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, dismissed reports of the alleged
incident in a statement.
“The command wishes to make it categorically clear that this is not only false but baseless and unfounded,” the PPRO said.
Meanwhile, the outlawed pro-Biafran
group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, on Thursday said it was
disappointed with the South-East governors for their inability to stop
violent attacks by Fulani herdsmen on communities in the zone.
IPOB, which spoke through its
Information Officer, Mr. Emma Powerful, said the recent attack on the
Ukpabi Nimbo community in Enugu State, where over 20 persons lost their
lives, would have been averted if the governors had taken steps to check
the “imminent danger” posed by the herdsmen.
The secessionist group accused the
governors of failing to understand that they were the chief security
officers in their various states by virtue of the office they occupied.
The group stated, “The governors and the
politicians used the lives of their subjects to play game and politics;
if not so, why would they not summon an emergency meeting to deliberate
on the impending dangers and condition of their people?”
It faulted the Enugu State Governor,
Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for calling for two days of fast and prayers and
donating money to the people of Ukpani Nimbo.
IPOB, in the same vein, urged Christians to “do something” to check what it described as a plan to Islamise the country.
In a related development, the Anambra
State Commissioner of Police, Hosea Karma, on Thursday said his command
was able to contain the activities of herdsmen in the state through an
informal security method.
Karma stated this at a one-day security
awareness dialogue, organised by the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency in collaboration with the office of the Secretary to the State
Government at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre, Awka,
the Anambra State capital.
The police boss said the method that had
worked for his command was the use of Fulani herdsmen that were born in
the state to checkmate the activities of others that were alien to the
state.
He added, “We have told those Fulani
herdsmen, born in the state, that any untoward incident that occurred
in the state as a result of herdsmen activity, we shall hold them
responsible.
“With this, they have helped us to
police their fellow herdsmen because they understand both Igbo and
Fulani languages. This system has helped us a lot,” Karma said.
“Our investigations have shown that if
you resort to self-help in fighting these people (Fulani herdsmen) the
situation would be catastrophic. They don’t forgive anything done them,
even in three years’ time.”
In his opening remarks, the state
Commander of the NDLEA, Mr. Sule Momodu, said the objective of the
workshop was to make everybody in the state security conscious in the
prevailing circumstance of the time.
ACF asks security agents to uncover perpetrators
The Arewa Consultative Forum on Thursday
condemned Monday’s attack on Ukpabi Nimbo Community in Enugu State,
describing it as most unfortunate and barbaric.
The ACF, in a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, commiserated with the
government and people of Enugu State “over this unfortunate and ugly
incident.”
It called on security agencies to unmask
the perpetrators of the heinous attacks, so as to end current
“dangerous generalisation” of Fulani herdsmen as responsible for the
attacks.
The group added, “Nigeria cannot afford
to graduate from Boko Haram insurgency to an unwarranted attack by
unknown gunmen alleged to be Fulani herdsmen.
“The traditional Fulani nomads have
coexisted peacefully with their host communities and have been grazing
their cattle for decades all over Nigeria without any such attacks.
“ACF is therefore disturbed and seriously concerned with this recent development.
“It therefore calls upon the security
agencies to do a thorough investigation into the identities of the
suspected gunmen in order to stop this dangerous generalisation of
labelling certain tribe or people of certain faith as responsible for
these attacks.
“Criminals hiding under whatever guise
and committing heinous crimes against innocent people and the state
should be treated as such and in accordance with the law.”
Ademola Oni, Sunday Aborisade, Ihuoma Chiedozie, Okechukwu Nnodim, Godwin Isenyo and Tony Okafor/ PUNCH
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