Well of controversy Community fights soldiers over deaths of residents

The relationship between Sopp, a community in Plateau State, and the military men stationed there to provide security is currently strained as a result of a good intention that went awry. ISAAC SHOBAYO writes that it may take some time before the relationship returns to normal, as the community feels deeply injured by a recent clash with their guests.

AFTER three years of respite, renewed hostility and violence between natives and Fulani herdsmen in Plateau State has put the military Special Task Force (STF), otherwise known as Operation Safe Haven, on its toes again. Herdsmen have been on the prowl in the past two months, killing no fewer than 50 people, mostly women and children.

As a result of this development, the STF has stepped up its operations in the crisis-prone parts of the state, mostly in Riyom, Barakin Ladi and Bassa local government areas to arrest the trend and as well engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects to cement their relationship with residents of their immediate community.

As part of its CSR activities in Sopp community in Riyom Local Government Area, the STF attempted to resuscitate a well that had been abandoned since 1985 to alleviate the suffering of the people in having access to water. However, the effort did not go as envisaged and this has affected relationship between the community and men of the STF, as two of those engaged to dig the dry well died inside it.

Sunday Tribune learnt that in consultation with the community, the STF had contracted four well diggers and paid them to dig the well in preparation for the dry season, but two of them died while trying to excavate the sand inside the well. This did not go down well with the natives, especially the youth of the community, who staged a protest, claiming that the soldiers planned the tragedy.

Narrating the circumstances that led to the tragedy to Sunday Tribune, the media officer to the STF, Captain Adam Umar, said the victims were engaged to dig the well for the use of the community.

“While inside the well, thick smoke from the generator they were using engulfed the well and the two men died there. The two others at the surface raised the alarm, while one of them was immediately lowered into the well on a rope. It was he who discovered that the two had died. At this point the youth in the community ganged up to protest, alleging that our men lured them into the well to die.

“Despite repeated explanations, the youth insisted that our men killed the two. They even took their protest to the checkpoint and STF post in the area, where they damaged things, including six vehicles. Our men maintained calm and watched them all through. But in the process, they swooped on our men and tried to disarm them. It was at this point the military officers had to defend themselves, while still observing the rules of engagement. Imagine some of them were struggling to disarm soldiers. In the process, three of them were shot.”

But contrary to the position of the STF, the youth, through their representative, Ibrahim Gyang, said that those who died were forced into the well by the soldiers and poisoned. he said the soldiers knew full well that it was a death trap. He added that apart from this, a girl was also shot in the leg by a soldier during the protest simply because she had refused to be the lover of the soldier.

Gyang further alleged that four other persons, who were also shot by men of the STF during the protest, are currently receiving treatment at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital and Jos University Teaching Hospital respectively.

Since then, the community and the STF have been trading blames, with different versions of what transpired at the well.

One of the victims, Danjuma Kaze, now recuperating at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, told Sunday Tribune that on the day of the incident, he was attracted to the well by the wail of people at the scene. On enquiry, he was told that the military had engaged two people to dig the well, but they died inside the well before they could finish the work.

Kaze said in the process of trying to disperse the crowd of people that had gathered, the soldiers began to shoot. He ended up being shot along with four others, including his daughter, who was hit in the mouth by a bullet, while a lady was also shot in the leg.

“Nobody attacked these officers. So there was no reason for the shooting,” he narrated.

Another victim, the lady said to have been shot for refusing a soldier’s love advance, Simi Danladi, spoke from her sickbed at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital. According to her, the STF officers had approached the community leader of Sopp to intimate him of their plan to dig a well that had been abandoned for the past 28 years. She disclosed that her brother was among those engaged to dig the well, but he died along with another person in the process of digging.

“After their bodies were brought out, the people began to protest saying they didn’t want soldiers in the community again and the soldiers started shooting randomly. While the protest was going on, I saw a soldier who had earlier approached me to be his girlfriend and he came to me again, threatening that he would shoot me, but his other colleagues prevailed on him not to shoot. While they were appealing to him, he pulled the trigger and shot me in the leg,” she narrated.

However, a senior military man, who did not want his name in print, said he was at the scene of the incident. According to him,  “No soldier will allow anyone to dispossess him of his rifle without defending himself. Those that were shot in the legs swooped on our men, including the girl in question. It was later discovered that the girl was on drug because no reasonable person would want to dispossess a military man of his rifle,” he alleged.

“The soldiers had to defend themselves because if the protesters had succeeded in taking the rifles from the military men, they could be used against the soldiers in future or for any other crime.”

Further findings, however, revealed that the incident has affected the relationship between the community and the STF. Residents of the community said that they are no longer safe with the soldiers in their domain and would want them to leave.

But the media officer who spoke in behalf of the Commander of the Task Force, Major General Anthony Atolagbe, insisted that the soldiers only reacted when it was apparent that the protesters wanted to disarm them.

“In a situation where a civilian is trying to disarm a solider of his rifle, what do you expect from that solider? All that happened was in self-defence,” he said.

A member of the National Assembly representing Barkin Ladi/Riyom federal constituency of Plateau State, Honourable Istifanus Gyang, while reacting to the tragic event, blamed the soldiers, accusing them of ethical misconduct. He described the alleged shooting as a violation of military codes and human rights, calling for an investigation.

“This matter must be thoroughly investigated by the military to ensure that bad eggs within the rank and file are weeded out, if the poor rating of the Nigerian military by the Amnesty International is to be corrected. It is a clear violation of the rules of engagement that guide the operations of the military whenever they are deployed for internal security,” he insisted.

“When I visited some of the victims at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, it was a feeling of disbelief and frustration that the security agents that were deployed to secure Sopp have now constituted a security threat to the same people they were deployed to protect.

«Even after one of the victims, an SS1 female student, gallantly resisted repeated sexual harassments, her glaring vulnerability notwithstanding, the soldier would have killed her if not for God, as the bullet got her in the thigh,» he said.

Though, normalcy has returned to the affected community and men of the STF have returned to their post, air of suspicion still pervades the area. On how trust could be restored between people of the community and the soldiers, one of the elders in the local government, Bitrus Jonathan, implored the soldiers to pay compensations to families of the two who died in the well and take up the bills of those receiving treatment in hospitals. He believes this will go a long way in assuaging the feelings of their relations and entire people of the community.

“Leaders in this community also have a role to play in fostering good relationship between the natives and men of the STF. We need the military. Our cooperation with them is necessary to ward off constant attacks on our community and in all the troubled parts of the state,” he said.