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Killings: Middle Belt has bled enough —Stakeholders

FOLLOWING incessant attacks on communities in the Middle Belt, the Middle Belt Forum and stakeholders within the region have stated that it is moral and constitutionally imperative for every able-bodied Middle Belter to defend themselves, their lands, and their dignity, saying the geopolitical zone has bled enough.

Recall that in the past three weeks, quite a number of communities, especially in Benue and Plateau State, were attacked while no fewer than 200 persons were killed and many hospitalised.

Speaking with the Sunday Tribune over the unfortunate development, the spokesman of the Middle Belt Forum, Luka Binniyat, expressed disappointment over the posture of the government towards the attacks in the zone, adding that the Nigerian government must uphold its constitutional duty to protect the right to life and self-defense as guaranteed by law.

“If the state cannot ensure the safety of its citizens, it must at least not obstruct their right to defend themselves.

“What is happening is far more than the misleadingly labelled ‘farmers-herders clash.’ It is, in essence, a continuation of the 19th-century jihad led by Usman dan Fodio—an aggressive expansionist campaign that culminated in the Sokoto Caliphate, which was only dismantled in 1903 by British colonial forces.

“Alarmingly, even individuals who were born and raised within our communities—formerly living peacefully alongside their neighbours—are now reportedly aligning with the armed aggressors. There is a disturbing belief among some of them that the lands that once welcomed them can now be claimed by them and subjugated as part of a renewed caliphate,” Binniyat said.

He lamented that hundreds of communities and farmlands spanning thousands of square kilometers in the Middle Belt have been forcibly occupied by the herdsmen, transforming them into lawless enclaves and kidnappers’ hideouts.

“The Middle Belt—whose ancestors resisted and neutralised the Usman dan Fodio jihadists in the 19th century—must not allow itself to be overrun in the 21st century by ragtag, illiterate jihadists emboldened only by their possession of firearms and capacity for savagery driven by jihadist passion.

“It has therefore become both a moral and constitutional imperative for every able-bodied Middle Belter to organise, arm, and defend their lives, lands, and dignity. This right to self-defense is not only enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution but also affirmed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said.

The forum implored the federal government to support these vulnerable communities in establishing well-coordinated community watches—structures that will work collaboratively with security agencies to defeat these enemies of humanity.

It further charged all communities under siege to heed the patriotic call of Lt. Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, a respected nationalist, who has urged Nigerians to rise in self-defense as the federal government appears either overwhelmed or unwilling to halt this carnage and protect its citizens.

Also, in a statement, National Leader of the Middle Belt Patriots, Dr Terna Akambe Nenge, pointed out that the people of the Middle Belt have been treated unfairly for a very long time now, considering the burden of insecurity that has cost the region much in blood and financial value.

According to him, the cold-blooded massacres by the militia reached worrying and genocidal proportions during the Muhammadu Buhari administration from 2015 to 2023, adding that they are still continuing with no single perpetrator brought to justice.

“Hundreds of thousands of lives are lost. Uncountable numbers of villages destroyed. Thousands are displaced as their ancestral lands are occupied by the militants as they graze their cows on the natives’ farmlands.

“At the moment, there are active genocidal massacres taking place on the Plateau, especially in Bokkos and Bassa LGAs: 70 people, including pregnant women and children, were killed by militia. Six are missing, and many others are injured. Over 300 homes have been destroyed, leaving more than 3000 people displaced.

“It is sad and irredeemably discrediting for a government to look so powerless and impotent when the Middle Belt people are massacred, but when the victims stand up in self-defense, the same government becomes so powerful with arrests and incarceration of the victims. This is a testament that the lives of other citizens do not matter or have lesser value,” he said.

Nenge mentioned that the federal government’s inability to use every lawful measure or force to bring to justice these killers is as disappointing as it is criminal.

“The truth is that it is not that we lack the strength or are ignorant of what to do because if we choose, we can take the perpetrators of this genocide salvo for salvo and volley for volley, but as peaceful people, we are waiting for the government to do the right thing by arresting these militia and their sponsors.

“It is enough; the killings must stop or be stopped. It is pertinent that the government act beyond press releases by protecting the lives and properties of the Middle Belt peoples. No religion or ethnic nationality is more Nigerian than us. The criminal militia that killed innocents in Bokkos and Bassa must be arrested and made to face the full weight of the law, as anything short of this will be unacceptable,” he added.

Isaac Shobayo