Plateau crisis: Oh God, not again

Recently, Plateau State recorded a resurgence of violence more than three years after a truce went into effect, ushering in a period characterised by peace. In this report, ISAAC SHOBAYO writes that old wounds are being reopened just as many questions remain answered.

 

AFTER three years of respite and just when everyone thought peace had finally returned to Plateau State, recent events had shown that things are almost going back to status quo ante security-wise. Scenes of recent squirmishes were Barakin Ladi and Bassa Local Government areas of the state where natives and herdsmen have been at war, literally. Wailing and cry of sorrow, occasioned by senseless and barbaric killings had returned.

All the sides involved are blaming one another of casting the first stone, even as stakeholders call for calm and government gets the knocks for not responding on time. The military also is not blameless. It is supposed to protect the lives of citizens, but right under its nose 29 lives were cut short raising old questions about its complicity in the attacks that are currently threatening to destroy the relative peace achieved in the past few years.

Recently, some gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons stormed Wareen community in Barakin Ladi Local Government and killed a former Head of Service in the state, Da Moses Gwom and others, including a military man. Prior to this, some communities in the local government had experienced similar incidents.

While residents were still reeling from the shock of the incident, it was the turn of Bassa Local Government, precisely Irigwe chiefdom, as it was turned into a killing field occasioned by misunderstanding between the natives and Fulani herdsmen. The spate of killings in the area within one month, according to reports, had been quite alarming. Reprisals had made it worse on both sides. Sunday Tribune learnt that no fewer than 90 people had been killed so far, while close to two hundred houses had either been burnt and reduced to debris.

The outbreak of violence in Bassa local government was heart-breaking for many reasons. One, when the neighbouring local government areas were in crises, Bassa was a place of refuge for those displaced by the crises. It is also doubly tragic that the new round of violence is coming just when all persons of goodwill were breathing a sigh of relief that peace has gradually returned to Plateau State, and commercial activities have started picking up.

Narrating the genesis of the crisis, the National President Irigwe Development Association (IDA), Honorable Sunday Abdu, said sometimes in September this year a Fulani boy was killed by some people suspected to be Irigwe indigenes, adding that the natives rallied round, arrested those behind the crime and handed them over to the police. They reportedly went further to beg the Fulani community to forget about the incident. But since then it has been series of attacks virtually on a daily basis.

Communities and villages under siege in the local government include Anchan, Hukke, Nkie Dangwro (one person was killed), Nzhweruvo and Tafigana, Rikwe Chongu and Nkyie (three persons killed). Virtually all these communities are now deserted.

To stem hostilities in the affected area, the state government had declared a curfew. But from all indications, the aim of the curfew was totally defeated as the tempo of invasion and killings continued unabated. The most barbaric of all was the latest killing of 29 people, mostly women, taking refuge at a primary school in Nkiedonwhro community in Bassa Local Government. The killing allegedly took take place in full glare of the men of Operation Safe Haven thus attracting public outcry and condemnations.

The attack was allegedly perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen, but the herdsmen through their association, Meyitti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), have exonerated themselves from the crime. However, the riddle many are trying to find answers to is the alleged complicity of the military in the whole saga. Subsequently, the sides involved: the native Irigwe, the Fulani and the military, had been trading blames on the incident.

On one hand, the Irigwe indigenes alleged that they were lured by the security men into the classroom, only to be killed by the herdsmen. According to one of the survivors, Peter Ibrahim, “At about 7:25 pm to be précise, there were sporadic gunshots at a hill close to the village, the military men in the area asked everyone in the village to move to a primary school where their operation base is located. But some of the men refused to enter the classroom.

“About five minutes later, we saw the Fulani in large number advancing towards the primary school. We quickly alerted the security men who told those of us outside to enter the classroom where the women and children were. Before we could realise what was happening. The Fulani entered the classroom and killed all twenty nine people without any resistant from the security men.”

Ibrahim further alleged that men of Operation Safe Haven did not return to their operational base until the attackers left the village, adding that those killed were mostly women and children including some young men who entered the classroom.

In its own defence, the MACBAN, Plateau State chapter in a statement signed by its chairman, Mallam Nura Mohammad, said prior to the Monday incident, six innocent Fulani cattle herders were beheaded by the Irigwe militia in Kuri village of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

According to the statement, the incident occurred on Sunday October 15, 2017 at about 3pm when the Fulani, while grazing their cattle at Kuri village in Bassa were attacked, slaughtered, beheaded and their heads carted away by the Irigwe militia adding that a total of forty (40) sheep and nine (9) cows were machete and killed while a total of 232 herd of cattle belonging to the families of the deceased persons were rustled.

Mallam Mohammad vehemently denied the claim that the culpability of herdsmen in the attack, saying Nigerians should query the security men present at the time of the attack on the identity of the attackers.

Irigwe Development Association leader, Hon. Abdu refuted Mallam Mohammad’s claim of the stated attack, saying it was cooked up to justify the killings of his people.

Worried by the condemnations that attended the attack under his watch, Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Major General Anthony Atolagbe, said the allegation would be investigated adding that the soldiers involved had been sent to the headquarters of the task force for proper investigation on how the attack took place, especially that a curfew was in place to restrict movement.

The Catholic Archbishop of Jos and President, Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama, also questioned the role of the security agents and urged them to carry out a thorough investigation while appealing to the feuding Irigwe and the Fulani communities to embrace peace.

The issue of complicity of the military in Plateau crisis is not new. It dates back to the 2001 crisis which had elicited series of protests especially by women against continued military operations in the state.

A legal practitioner, Fred Kumpol, told Sunday Tribune in an interview that the complaint had become a recurring decimal in Plateau state anytime there was a crisis, adding that the authorities concerned need to carry out a thorough investigation on the matter to restore confidence in the people that security agents could carry out their operations without bias.

Though quite a lot of people had commended Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau, for sustaining peace in the state in the past two years, they however alleged that the latest crisis had been badly managed.

According to a senior citizen in Plateau state who did not want his name in print, the government was lethargic in its response just as he said that there was need for permanent reconciliation between the warring factions.

“If the government had waded in with vigour when the crisis started, it might not have got to this level. The Peace Building Agency established by the state government was also not proactive enough in this matter. There is the need for genuine reconciliation between the Irigwe and Fulani herdsmen. Deploying security agents to the local government is a temporary measure,” he advised.

Meanwhile, most villages, especially those affected by crisis are presently deserted for fear of another attack. A farmer, Jonathan Adudu, who is taking refuge in Jos, the state capital said a majority of farmers are afraid of going to their farms for fear of being attacked by the herdsmen.

“This is harvest time. We cannot go to our farm, and report reaching us indicates that the Fulani have entered our farmlands with their cows. We are appealing to the government to come to our aid,” he said.

Though Governor Lalong during his official visit to the affected communities promised to arrest the situation and threatened to deal with anyone fanning the ember of discord, the aftermath of the crisis has a spiral effect. Much needed food crop harvest (the sweat and months-long labour of farmers) is wasting away on the farms, while the farmers themselves have become internally displaced persons. Most importantly, the hope of food sufficiency is fading away very fast.