Herdsmen: There we go again!

First, I let’s clear a cobweb. The printer’s devil was at work on this column last week as the second article, “The change we want”, was a reaction sent in by a reader, Mr. Chris Ngwu. Unfortunately his name wasn’t published at the end of the piece, giving the impression that it was a continuation […]

First, I let’s clear a cobweb. The printer’s devil was at work on this column last week as the second article, “The change we want”, was a reaction sent in by a reader, Mr. Chris Ngwu. Unfortunately his name wasn’t published at the end of the piece, giving the impression that it was a continuation of my weekly intervention – which it was not.
The issue that dominated the public space this past week was the spate of attacks on defenceless villages by herdsmen. While the nation was still trying to douse the fires ignited by the attack on Agatu villages in Benue State, the monster reared its head in seven villages in Nimbo – Nimbo Ngwoko, Ugwuijoro, Ekwuru, Ebor, Enugu Nimbo, Umuome and Ugwuachara agrarian communities in the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.
There is no way any sane person can justify this savagery. But the terrible occurrence has driven many people to the ethnic barricades already. Perhaps nothing best illustrates the need to tackle this problem with all the seriousness it deserves than the following exchange between three revelers at a watering hole to which this writer was witness:
Kessy: The Enugu attack was planned by the Fulani to depopulate the
South-East and kill Christians. More attacks are coming. You can see that the president is doing nothing because his ethnic group is the one doing the attacking. If it was Igbo people killing Fulani people, do you think the president would have kept quiet?
Deen: I have problem with this kind of argument. Does the president have to apologise for being a Fulani? Are you sure that the herdsmen involved are Fulani or even Nigerians? Everyone, including the president, has condemned the atrocities and the security agencies are going after the criminals. But is there justification for demonising a whole ethnic group?
Timi: Perhaps what both of you should do is put yourself in the other person’s shoes. I have heard some people defending the actions of the killer herdsmen as if the lives of cattle are more valuable than those of human beings. And I have also heard some Nigerians using this issue to incite their people to violence. While I think that labelling every herdsman Fulani is based on ignorance, what justification any group can have to arm itself and embark on the kind of heist routinely carried out be herdsmen in a country governed by laws?
Deen: Many of those violent bandits are not Nigerians. Many are Tuaregs and they procured their arms from the rumps of various groups fighting in Libya. I am not saying all. But real Fulani people have been living in other communities for generations without problems. Why is this problem rearing its head now?
Kessy: We should ask you. Now that your Boko Haram is becoming unfashionable, it is the South-East that you want to turn to the next theatre of war.
Deen: My Boko Haram? You see how glibly you trivialise a serious issue? Could you have accused Obasanjo of being responsible for the OPC or Jonathan of being the sponsor of MEND?
Timi: That’s unfair, Kessy. You’re sounding as if Deen is personally liable!
Kessy: You know that is the truth. Plus it is an anti-Christian campaign. Do you know that those marauders burnt churches?
Deen: I heard that they burnt a church. But that doesn’t make their crime a religious campaign. The problem is that we have removed our focus from the crime and are insulting one another in this country. If some people committed homicide, the security agencies should find them and prosecute them. More importantly, after dealing with the offenders, we should find a lasting solution to the problem since cattle herding is a way of life.
Kessy: You can’t solve your grazing problem by violently taking over my village. I will fight to the last man. Have palm kernel farmers from the East ever tried to take over northern villages?
Deen: Nobody wants to take over your village. There is a grazing bill coming up. There are other alternatives being suggested.
Kessy: Nobody is going to donate his ancestral land for any grazing. If you want to go into animal farming, establish ranches and add the cost to the price of your cattle. But leave my village alone. This Stone Age system of trekking from the dessert to the coast has to stop.
Timi: I sincerely hope that for once we will act in a mature way and address this problem once and for all. If the herdsmen know that they can’t get away with murder they will stop the carnage. But as long as they continue getting away with it, you can be sure that the next incident is around the corner.
Kessy: They won’t catch their next target napping. You will see. Thankfully, Ohaneze youths have ordered Fulani herdsmen out of our area.
Timi: I just want to see an end to the killings. I also want the culprit brought to book. Then I want us to address the problem once and for all so that we can continue to live together as brothers and sisters. We can start by paying compensation to the victims.
Deen: Yes, that is the way to go. A million insults will not achieve anything. If you order Fulani out of the East, how will you feel when Igbos are asked to leave the North?  We shouldn’t start the Hutu-Tutsi kind of thing here which nearly destroyed Rwanda. Let’s address the problem and do justice to all.
Kessy: Justice? I am waiting to see the colour of your justice.
Timi: Justice is colour blind.
Kessy: I hope it is also tribe blind.
Timi:  Truth be told, President Buhari and his team could have handled this thing better. Speed and decisiveness are of essence in order to engender trust and national cohesion. And as Deen says, the key is to confront this problem once and for all.