Agatu in the eye of another storm

Trouble started again for the Idoma-speaking people of Agatu in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State on Saturday, February 11, 2017, following the killing of a soldier and the manhandling of two of his colleagues by youths believed to be residents of the area. Over the past four years, Agatu land has suffered a […]

Trouble started again for the Idoma-speaking people of Agatu in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State on Saturday, February 11, 2017, following the killing of a soldier and the manhandling of two of his colleagues by youths believed to be residents of the area.

Over the past four years, Agatu land has suffered a series of attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The attacks have led to the loss of many lives and property. As such, different security operatives, including soldiers, were stationed in the area for peacekeeping.

The presence of the soldiers deployed to the area after last year’s massacre, no doubt, had forestalled further crisis between the herdsmen and farmers. At least 60 affected villages are still counting their losses.

Our correspondent gathered that the latest trouble began as a mere exchange of words between some Agatu ‘boys’ and the soldiers. The soldiers had allegedly warned the ‘boys’ to desist from parading themselves with guns and sending wrong signals to surrounding communities. 

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday on how the trouble started, a resident of the area who simply identified himself as Dele, said, “The boys were just displaying their weapons anyhow and the soldiers had to caution them to desist from doing so. Actually, they were marking the one year remembrance of their relatives who were killed during the herdsmen attack on Olegadakolo village when they started brandishing weapons. Rather than heed the soldiers’ advice, they began to boast that they had more weapons and could deal with the soldiers. 

“The argument degenerated, and the boys, who are suspected to be on hard drugs, overpowered the soldiers, killing one of them and injuring others. It was not supposed to be an issue if the boys had obeyed the soldiers. This is just an unprovoked attack on security agents sent to keep vigil in the area for their own safety,” he said.

In reaction to the sad development, Governor Samuel Ortom issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the people of Agatu to produce the boys who perpetrated the act.

During an interview with journalists on Wednesday in Makurdi, Ortom said the incident, which took place on Saturday at Olegadakolo, near Egba community, was highly unfortunate and regrettable. “The action is condemnable. I apologise,” he said.

The governor said his administration would work with security agencies and traditional rulers to fish out perpetrators of the dastardly act, even as he sympathised with the Chief of Army Staff and the commander of 72 Special Forces Battalion, which lost the soldier. He said government would do everything possible within the law to ensure that those involved are sanctioned.

Earlier at a press conference in Makurdi, the commander, 707 Special Forces Brigade, Brigadier-General Clement Apere, said the body of the soldier was recovered alongside his wounded colleague. During a cordon-and-search operation conducted by troops.

Apere also said that the deceased’s service riffle, which was taken away by his killers, had been recovered. He insisted that the operation of the soldiers in Agatu was professional, adding that one person who was arrested in connection with the mayhem is already helping in investigation.

He displayed arms, ammunitions, military equipment and uniforms allegedly recovered from Ekpele, Enungba and Olegadakolo communities during military operations. He described the killing of the soldier as highly condemnable, stressing further that the military would not rest on its oars until all who are fingered in the heinous act are apprehended and brought to book.

But as the governor’s ultimatum gradually comes to an end on Saturday, the real culprits are yet to be apprehended as at the time of this report despite intensified efforts by members of the community and traditional leaders to identify and hand them over to the appropriate authorities.

The sole administrator of Agatu Local Government, Mike Inalegwu, told Daily Trust on Sunday that since the directive was handed out by the governor, he had held several meetings with elders and chiefs, as well as the vigilante group in the area to ensure that those involved in the crime are arrested. He said that combined local security outfits and members of the vigilante group had spread their dragnets across the nooks and crannies of the vicinity and sealed all entry points to Agatu. He noted that any community found to harbour the perpetrators of the crime will be sanctioned. “We are not relenting on the governor’s order. At the moment, we have taken necessary steps to apprehend the culprits. We are also going underground to ensure that we get them before the 72-hour ultimatum. I would like to place on record that the mastermind of the soldier’s killing is from Nasarawa State. He is a boat builder who came to sojourn in Agatu after he was driven away from Nasarawa as a result of criminality.

“The killed soldier had only urged the mastermind of the dastardly act to stop firing gunshots, reminding him and his cohorts that a ban was placed on such illegal activities. But the boys were on drugs, so they were capable of doing anything,” Inalegwu stressed.

Similarly, the minority leader of the Benue State House of Assembly, Alhaji Audu Sule, has condemned the killing. Sule, who represents Agatu constituency at the Assembly, described the action of the youth as “highly provoking and unwarranted,” even as he extended condolences to the army and the family of the deceased. He wondered why the boys would unleash terror on unbiased security operatives drafted to their vicinity for their own safety. He, however, said that everything was already being done to ensure that the perpetrators of the act are caught and handed over to relevant authorities for the law to take its course.

The lawmaker further warned mischievous youths from his area to desist from causing trouble for innocent villagers who are thankful to the military authority for deploying their men to forestall crisis between farmers and herders. He also appealed to the army to be patient with his people as they are willing to work with other security agencies to fish out the bad eggs among them so that there would be peace in the land.

Meanwhile, local sources from Agatu have alleged that the soldiers, in a reprisal operation, stormed six Agatu communities, namely, Olegadakolo, Ikpele, Otugologwu, Iwali, Okpanchenyi and Egba and killed four people, including a pregnant woman. The woman was allegedly hit by a stray bullet.

But the commander of the 707 Special Forces Brigade, Apere, insisted that the soldiers only moved to Agatu to recover the remains of their murdered colleague and assist those that were injured.

A former director of publicity of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Ikwulono, who hails from Agatu, also condemned the killing and urged the military to lay down their arms and continue with their peace efforts in the area.

“Agatu is not prepared for war. The soldiers should discontinue the invasion of the area with immediate effect. The crisis is not helping Agatu, Benue or Nigeria. How can we be battling with the issue of Fulani and the soldiers who are supposed to protect the people are also waging war on us?” he asked.

However, the council administrator, Inalegwu, maintained that soldiers were still keeping peace in Agatu and had not been withdrawn. He said that calm had returned to the locality after the ugly incident, adding that the people are going about their normal businesses without tension or fear of molestation.

When contacted, the paramount ruler of Agatu, Ad’ Agatu, Chief Godwin Onah, said he was still mourning his son who died a few days ago and could not comment on the matter at the moment.

Meanwhile, the commissioner of police, Benue State command, Bashir Makama, has warned criminal elements bent on disrupting the peace of the land to desist or face the wrath of the law.