Meeting Agatu’s Spiritual Warriors

The town was sacked, leading to the mass exodus of villagers afleeing to neigbouring towns to seek refuge. But the people, who are basically farmers and fishermen, are now determined to take their destinies in their hands to wade off intimidation and conquer, instead of living in constant fears of external aggression. While they are […]

The town was sacked, leading to the mass exodus of villagers afleeing to neigbouring towns to seek refuge. But the people, who are basically farmers and fishermen, are now determined to take their destinies in their hands to wade off intimidation and conquer, instead of living in constant fears of external aggression.

While they are yet to recover from the loss of lives and property occasioned by the suspected Fulani herdsmen’s invasion with series of attacks launched on the area nearly on a weekly basis between May 2013 and April 2014, the people have resolved in a communal effort to complement security operatives drafted to their troubled zone to keep the peace.
The Agatu people who said they have had enough of the herders attacks, especially those on the river banks, most of who had to abandon their farms and fishing domains and flee to safety during the crisis, have now resorted to spiritual means for protection.
The locals have also formed information sharing links and intelligent gathering to enable them keep watch over their environment, looking out for the slightest signal of danger so that it can be nipped in the bud.

Enogaje Village
At the entrance of Enogaje, meaning “sunset,” a small hut hosting the revered images of the biblical Virgin Mary, Jesus crucifix, arch angel Michael is seen with half burnt candles glowing in the dimly lit hut on a wooden stool where the items are kept.
Sunday Trust gathered from the villagers that the images represent the divine presence of Mary, Jesus and St. Michael, who keep constant watch over the village.
They said prayers are offered on a daily basis by young virgin males and females of the Enogaje community at the blessed altar to strengthen the operations of the heavenly bodies against perpetrators of evil. So henceforth, the sun would set on enemies that would attempt to shatter the peace of the community as they would continue to suffer defeat on entering the community, they locals said.
At the middle of the village is also located a newly built ‘Grotto’ expected to bear a life-size image of the Blessed Virgin Mary which was being expected to arrive from Enugu on the day our correspondent visited. The, image it was learnt, symbolized the presence of God and His guiding angels in the community to defend the people from unforeseen evil.
The people bore testimonies that the divine images have worked wonders in some communities in Agatu which put it to use during the incessant invasions of the land and therefore, all other surrounding villages have now fortified their belief in the objects that God would wrought great deliverance for them.
The belief in divine protection has brought absolute calm in the village such that even when there were reports that the Fulani mercenaries had planned to attack some communities in the area penultimate Sunday, the people did not panic or scamper to safety, they went about their normal businesses unperturbed.
Explaining the reason for such confidence, the traditional head of Enogaje, one of the 61 communities that was razed in the previous attacks, Chief Sunday Oyigadu told our correspondent that they are not known to be cowards and as such they are well prepared to repel any future attack.
“Every male child in Agatu now is a warrior. Take a look at our chaplet. I’m glad to announce to you that we serve a living God who fights for us. Let them come we will finish them because our God is alive and powerful. It is sad that we spent a whole one year running helter skelter from Fulani herdsmen but now we must not fold our arms and let lunatics come to kill us cheaply,” he said, dangling the rosary chain on his neck.
According to him, all the communities were alerted that the Fulani mercenaries have arrived in four vehicles into Loko, a border town in Nasarawa State where they usually use as entry or exit and that they planned to launch another attack on his people.
This time, the royal father opined, that his people would brace up and defend their community against any unwarranted attacks because they have a constitutional right to protect themselves and would no longer allow foreigners to slaughter them like animals.
Oyigadu said: “No running again. Every child of this land, old or young with this chaplet will not run. Ordinarily, a goat does not bite but when it is pushed to the wall against its will; it would pounce on its oppressor to bite. So, we will no longer allow anybody to come and snuff life out of us as if we are goats or chicken.”
The traditional head further hinted that they have prayer warrior pastors backing the land in fasting and prayers both night and day and assured the invaders of supernatural defeat if they dared the land again, maintaining that no group or individual has the monopoly of violence as the attackers think they do.
He said:  “Our people have been pushed to a level that we no longer fear. Let them come, they will see hell. We have pastors who are prayer warriors and are consistently making petitions to God.”
 Oyigadu who conducted our correspondent round the ruins of the spates of attacks witnessed between last and this year appreciated the intervention of the federal and state government in helping to restore peace to the area but insisted that they do not want any Fulani herdsmen to return to their vicinity again, at least not so soon that the memories of destruction is still fresh.
He insisted that the federal government should create a grazing reserve for the herders in their states of origin because they (Agatu) would never accept to cohabit with the herdsmen even if the government says so.
For the royal father who had served Afribank for over 20 years before returning home to his people, he cannot forget in a hurry how he lost his life’s treasure, rooted in literary history and all he had worked for to the mercenaries who torched his palace.
He regretted that the crisis had brought untold hardship on his subjects, most of who at the moment are picking up the pieces of their lives as they manage to survive with the relief materials provided by the area council while others have remained with their relatives in other cities.
“The crisis has forced us into seeing the bitter side of life. We no longer have bed to sleep on, some of us manage with the mats distributed by the council, others whose houses were also burnt down are still squatting with their relatives in Otukpo, neigbouring Apa Local Government Area or cities outside the state,” he added.
Also, speaking, 70-year-old Usman Amodu whose 12-bedroom bungalow was completely razed down appreciated God for sparing the lives of his three wives and 17 children with many grand children totaling the number of his household that escaped unhurt to 40.
Amodu however lamented that he had not been able to rebuild his home and as a result, his family is currently scattered with relatives in the village and in the cities ekking out their livelihood and believing that help would come for them someday to reconstruct their house so they can live together again as one big family.
Similarly, Peter Elaigwu who is a retired soldier had converted his eight-room apartment razed down by the invaders into fewer mud rooms through the help of the community’s youth who fetched bamboo stems from the bush to reconstruct a temporary shelter for his family using the ruins of zinc from the destroyed home.
In the same vein, over 75-year-old widow, Ema Okpanachi and another young house wife, Abiye Edo, said they lost all their belongings to the crisis and are starting all over again with nothing.
While, the youth have constructed a makeshift house for mama Okpanachi to live in, Edo and her family have been provided a temporal shelter in the traditional ruler’s compound.

Oshigbudu
The most hit villagers of the Fulani hostilities are believed to be located in the coastline communities bordering Nasarawa and Kogi states respectively. Such areas as Ichogoluwu, Oshigbudu, Ogwule, Ocholonga, Adagbo, Okokolo, Adana, Okpancheyi, Egba, Ekwo were among the many communities sacked by the herdsmen who had killed, maimed villagers and destroyed their homes and farms.
While only part of Oshigbudu, adjourning the Enogaje, was torched by the herdsmen, owners of a popular hotel in the locality have shut down because customers no longer patronize it for fear of attack.
Bawa Ankeli, a commercial cyclist who took this reporter round the affected places said that the hotel which provided lodging for travelers had to close up business and bushes have overgrown the building as no one sleeps there any longer.
Ankeli also said that masquerade has been banned in Agatu land following the crisis as a necessary measure to guide against the enemies antics in any form of disguised attack on the people, adding that no stone is being left unturned to ensure the security of the area because life is sacrosanct.
He  said apart from these measures taken, every one of them are warriors and that he is not left out of the pack as he wielded his protective rosary rings to buttress his assertion.
“I’m a warrior. I can’t be left out on an issue like this. This chaplet and ring works for us. Even if it is put on an animal or any living thing for that matter, it protects the subject so that it is not harmed,” he stated proudly.

Obagaji
The road leading to Obagaji, the Agatu council headquarter is a nightmare. It indeed depicts among many other infrastructural needs of the people and the lack of government’s presence in the area. Our correspondent, however, observed that work has began on the long awaited Oshigbudu-Obagaji road with the construction company’s personnel mapping out the portions while heavy duty equipments mounted strategic bridge points.
The people believed that the road when completed would in no small measure reduce insecurity challenges in the area and enable security operatives to discharge their functions with less stress.
According to the Council chairman of Agatu, Stephen Bamiyi Dutse, soldiers are still present in Oweto and Obagaji, the local government headquarters to avert sudden attacks. He stated that the soldiers who were drafted to Agatu had continued to reside in Obagaji from where they intermittently survey the boundary areas to the riverside which is currently manned by local vigilantes.
He added that the vigilantes are the main warriors of the land, trained to enhance their ability to protect themselves and their families and indeed, their communities from the incessant attacks. Recruits were, therefore, selected from all the communities, such that no community would be left defenseless.
“All our boys have been trained to defend themselves because they don’t want to be refugees in their own land any longer. The small boys now protect themselves though not with guns; they assist the security operatives with information to keep the area safe. They do not want to be running away again at the slightest threat,” Dutse explained.
He however worried that the affected persons are yet to recover fully following this year’s flood that wiped out their farm crops, causing double tragedy for families as he passionately appealed for government’s assistance.
Dutse also confirmed that there was a planned attack by the invading herdsmen, alleging that they were hired mercenaries sponsored from a hideout in Loko, Nasarawa state by their sponsors who gave them flying boats to carry out operations.”
For Alhaji Isah Ongbabo, a fisherman displaced from his Obishu riverside community and now taking refuge in Obagaji, survival has been difficult.
Ongbabo shares a room apartment with his two wives and eight children in a relative’s compound and does not know when he would return back to his village because there is absolutely nothing to return to.
“My house was completely destroyed. I want government to assist me financially to put up a temporary shelter where I can manage life with my family. For now, I still go to the river to find fish to enable me feed my family,” he said.

Reaction
Reacting to the peoples’ plight, Benue state commissioner of Works and Transport, John Ngbede who also hails from the area disclosed that in no distant time, perhaps during dry season, when there is ease movement in the ever-swampy Agatu region, some of them in
government would organize a launch to raise funds which will be used to support the displaced people to rebuild their homes.
Ngbede intimated that a few of them in government from the area have already made their individual contributions to alleviate the hardship faced by their displaced kinsmen.
The commissioner expressed satisfaction with the high level of security awareness among the people of the area just as he lauded the council for spending huge on the welfare of security operatives to keep them on alert so as to forestall a repeat of the ugly incidences in the past.
Meanwhile, the personal assistant to the Agatu chairman, Ochoche Andrew have appealed to government to increase the presence of marine security patrol on the water ways in the area.