Letters

Benue’s same-sex marriage prohibition bill

BENUE, a North-Central Nigerian State becomes more prominent in recent times; a state with a population of 4,253,641 as of 2006 census with farming as the main occupation is known for cash crops such as potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax, yams, sesame, rice, groundnuts and palm nuts.

In the past, the state has been plagued by flooding during which the dailies and social media were full of gory details about how 100,000 were displaced. In that time, Nigerians, young and old, straight and gay, black and white united to save these 100,000 human beings because it was the most humane thing to do. Everyone was reaching out through any means – from social media campaigns to radio discussions – to send relief materials across.

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By February 10, 2018, the first revealing story hit the paper stands. Fraud after flood: How relief materials for Benue Victims were diverted. In his usual way, the governor dismissed that on the ground that it was the work of his opposition.

Well, from 2017 to 2018, this same state has been home to stories about alleged Fulani herdsmen attacks. But we all know that the ‘alleged’ is just another play on words and another excuse to derail from taking proper action against the culprits. From a mass burial held on Thursday January 11, 2018 for 72 people killed in fighting between nomadic herdsmen and farmers in Makurdi to the victims of January 1, 2018 attack that also left 500,000 persons displaced, the state was filled with fear and tears.

As if that was not enough, on April 24, 2018, worshipers at the St. Ignatius Quashi Catholic Church Parish in Ukpor-Mbalom in Gwer Local Government Area of the state were attacked and killed by suspected herdsmen. This time, at least 19 people were killed including two priests. And on it goes

These killings are callous and unfortunate, some say, but what is even more unfortunate is the possibility that there must have been several unreported attacks by suspected herdsmen which have left hundreds of people dead in various communities within the state in recent months. And on the premise of all that has been said, someone would have expected the legislators and the executive of the state to rally round in building frontiers and making stricter laws that will keep Benue residents safe – especially since the governor had accused the big wigs in power of ignoring several warnings of the impending attack on communities in Benue by herdsmen in a January 13, 2018 meeting with the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Security.

In 2014, former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan signed into law a bill criminalizing same-sex marriage in Nigeria. It was called the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act. Now, with all these killings happening in Benue, Governor Ortom and members of the Benue State House of Assembly have pushed a lousy same-sex prohibition bill into law.