Re: Nasarawa to institute enquiry on Ombatse

This rampaging tribal cult group must be stop at all cost or the state government risks the emergence of militias from other tribes who would rise to defend themselves against this Eggon killer machine.Like Senator Abdullahi Adamu rightly pointed out recently in an interview with some national dailies, no tribe has monopoly of violence. In […]

This rampaging tribal cult group must be stop at all cost or the state government risks the emergence of militias from other tribes who would rise to defend themselves against this Eggon killer machine.
Like Senator Abdullahi Adamu rightly pointed out recently in an interview with some national dailies, no tribe has monopoly of violence. In a state with over 25 ethnic groups, just one tribe cannot be allowed to hold everybody else to ransom. The Ombatse cult group had held the state captive for so long; where ever it struck, it let trail of death and destruction. And in all those instances the Eggon Cultural Development Association (ECDA) the tribe’s cultural body would always rise to their defense, even as the tribe’s prominent leaders kept sealed lips or try desperately to justify the carnage.
When hell was visited on Assakio on June 1st 2012 and  Agyaragu in November of the same year, ECDA, while exonerating Ombatse from the violence in the two areas and elsewhere across the state, was quick to blame other parties for starting the crisis. “… In any crisis involving the Eggon people, if truth is told, the Eggon people have NEVER been the aggressors. And in all cases, where the Eggon people react, it is always and only after recurring acts of exasperating provocation. When a person is pushed to the wall and there is nobody to defend him, there is the natural instinct to defend himself. The first natural law is self-defence,” ECDA had said in the wake of widespread condemnation of activities of Ombatse in the state.  And so the Eggon has to raise an ethnic army to “defend” itself from the “aggressors” which include almost all ethnic groups in the state because “For long, the Eggon person has been the butt of insults and violent attacks by several ethnic groups in especially Nasarawa South Senatorial District,” according to ECDA.
The position of ECDA about Ombatse has indeed, showed that group has become law unto itself and even with their ban by the state government, they continue to visit terror on the people of the state and in those crises, they are “only defending themselves.”
Angwan Kuje, Angwan Alaku, Angwan Railway station, Agyaragu, Barakin Abdullahi, Agbasi and a host of other communities were turned into killing fields. They invaded Kwandere, the governor’s home town on February 7; torched the palace of its Emir, killing many particularly the Fulanis who were taking refuge there.
 The group attacked solders and SSS operatives that had gone to arrest its spiritual leader, Babalakyo during a ceremony at Alogani on Saturday, November 17, burning the patrol vehicles.
However things came to a head on May 7, 2013 when Ombatse killed personnel of the State Security Service (SSS) and police officers who were on special operation in Alakyo to arrest the chief priest Babalakyo. Over a hundred policemen and operatives of other security agencies were killed, and their corpses gathered and burnt and ECDA again, rose to Ombatse’s defense saying 21 of their people were also killed by the police. And also what many see as belated, Senator Solomon Ewuga the tribe’s only political leader until the emergence of the information minister, Labaran Maku to the scene visited Alakyo to add insult to the injury by trying to “justify” the overly reprehensible act.
Coming three weeks after the pogrom, for which no one leader of the Eggon nation made a statement condemning the dastardly act, such a pantomime is grotesque and, too little too late.
 Senator Ewuga ‘led some select journalists’ to the hitherto inaccessible village ‘for an on-the-spot’ assessment of the security situation in the national interest” met with the Chief Priest of the Ombatse ethnic cult, who purports not to understand the Hausa language, let alone speak it. This pre-supposes that, the team of journalists were at the mercy of an interpreter, the legal adviser of Ombatse Z.Z. Alumaga.
The questions to ask are: why should he wait three weeks after the carnage to go and assess the situation? Why didn’t he visit Kwandere, Agyragu and elsewhere where people were killed? How comes he had easy access to Babalakyo who security agents and traditional rulers including the Aren Eggon, had tried unsuccessfully to bring to the dialogue table? The situation did not require a visit by the senator to get to the national discourse; the terror visited on the state by Ombatse had drawn condemnation from outside the shore of this country.
It is disappointing that having benefited enormously from our common patrimony, the Senator chooses to be a tribal jingoist rather than be a father to all. Instead of condemning Ombatse for the carnage, he elects to justify why his people’s resort to the use of arm to advance their interest. “So if people rise for their own interest, you brand them so that you can hang them?” He had queried in response to a question put to him by a reporter. He had no hot words for Babalakyo during that visit; his grouse instead is the number of security operatives that went on that mission. “Twelve trucks to go and carry this old man?” He had asked.
And like the ECDA president, Mr Chris Mamman said earlier, Ewuga reaffirmed that some people are demonising Eggon and as such, they have every reason to revolt; and when asked what he thinks is the implication of the crisis to the Eggon race? He said: “They are more organized. They have never found themselves in a situation where they have to close ranks with this volume of invectives being thrown at them. They never had course to close more ranks like what they are doing now. So there is functionality in crisis in the worst case scenario. “Functionality in crisis?”
This coming from one of the supposed leaders and founding fathers of the state is unfortunate. Why is Ewuga not towing the line of prominent figures of the state that choose to be leaders of all rather than that of their tribes? And one disheartening thing is that, this is a man that has never for once, hide his aspiration of becoming the governor of entire Nasarawa state yet he kept parading himself as ethnic champion.
 Unless and until Senator Ewuga shed his ethnic toga and embraced other 26 tribes  in the state, his dream of occupying Shendam Road Government House will forever remained a mirage.
Dan-Mukurna wrote in from Nasarawa State.