Since we have only one IGP….

With the intervention of many high-profile stakeholders, we now know that the dominant narrative about the Benue massacre is only half the story. The other half is being drowned in a sea of outrage, orchestrated by politicians and opinion-leaders bent on overheating the polity.  The Inspector-General of the Nigerian Police force is at the receiving […]

With the intervention of many high-profile stakeholders, we now know that the dominant narrative about the Benue massacre is only half the story. The other half is being drowned in a sea of outrage, orchestrated by politicians and opinion-leaders bent on overheating the polity. 

The Inspector-General of the Nigerian Police force is at the receiving end of unusual directives from both the executive arm of government and the legislative. On one hand, President Buhari had directed him to move to Benue state and deal with the emergency there, and on the other hand our National Assembly members have given him only two weeks, to find the perpetrators of the Benue massacre.

But since there is another side to the story, as well as other victims for whom no national tears are being shed, this column will grant audience to the following two testimonies, which will highlight the fact that since we have only one IGP, DIGs and even AIGs may have to be deployed to other parts of the country, in order to unearth the truth about these ‘mystery’ murders. 

His Royal Highness, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II:

“Some months ago in Mambilla, on one weekend, over 800 Fulani were murdered by Mambilla militias. The papers did not even go there to cover the story. Most of those wiped out were women, infants and the elderly.

“In one case, a pregnant woman was killed, her stomach was ripped open and the baby was brought out and slaughtered. I personally handed over to the Federal Government a dossier with the names and pictures of the 800 or so people slaughtered as well as the names and addresses of persons known to have participated in these acts of ethnic cleansing.

“Nothing has happened. I also ensured that authorities received video and audio evidence of senior politicians in Taraba State, who were involved in this act of genocide. No one has been arrested. Fulanis were also murdered in Kajuru and Numan.

“In many of these cases it was not about conflict but militias raiding settlements to kill women and children, and then later, attacking herdsmen and slaughtering them and their cattle.”

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria condoled with the people of Benue State over the recent killing of over 70 persons but rubbished reports that the attacks were part of a ploy by the Fulani to take over parts of Nigeria.

“The point I am making is that we are living in a country that has failed to protect the lives of people on all sides and bring culprits to book. Also in the case of the Fulani, there is a deliberate attempt to ‘ethnicise’ criminality, and politicians, who are total failures, have found the anti-Fulani rhetoric to be the way to get popularity,” he said.

The monarch said as far as perpetrators continued to get away with the dastardly acts, they would remain emboldened to continue to kill.

“In the recent genocide, a top local government official, on whom there was evidence of involvement was removed, then given a political appointment in Jalingo in the Governor’s Office.”

Courtesy: Interview with Sunday Punch

Professor Ishaq Akintola, Director Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC:

“The Nigerian Senate yesterday gave the Inspector General of Police (IG) 14 days to arrest and prosecute Benue killers.

While we welcome this development, we see the need for clarification and modification of Senate’s request.

In the first place, we need to ask whether the killers who should be arrested are just herdsmen who have been accused of killings in Benue. If this is so, there is need for modification particularly in the light of the exposure of a killer army being sponsored by Benue State authorities and the claim by herdsmen that the Benue militia had been killing Fulanis in the state.

Therefore IG must not only arrest killer herdsmen but also arrest, detain and prosecute killer militiamen in illegal camps in Benue.

Secondly, IG’s deterrent action must not be limited to Benue alone. He must spread his dragnet to Taraba, Plateau and other volatile states where killings of all forms have occurred. The herdsmen have complained that 1,000 of their men have been killed in different states while two million of their cattle have been rustled. No serious security outfit can close its eyes to this allegation if it wants enduring peace.

What MURIC is saying is that arresting and prosecuting herdsmen alone for killings in Benue can only give Nigeria peace of the graveyard. It will not last. For lasting peace, we must fish out those who have been killing herdsmen and rustling their cows.

That is comprehensive justice. Only a holistic disciplinary action can halt the cycle of violence.

MURIC is deeply concerned that nobody was arrested when 732 Fulanis were killed in Mambila, Plateau State. We are greatly worried that the security agents looked on as 82 women and children of Fulani stock were massacred in Numan, Adamawa State by Bachama militiamen. Again, what did the IG do when 24 Fulanis were killed in Lau? What did the army do when 96 Fulanis were cut down in cold blood in Kajuru, Kaduna State?

Our pertinent question here is: are Fulanis not human beings like other Nigerians? Can we imagine the total number of lives lost by the Fulani within a period of seven months?

To us in MURIC, every Nigerian life is precious. Killers are killers no matter where they come from. But we must not stigmatise a whole tribe because of the criminal activities of a few. We must separate killers from their tribes and their religion.

There are law-abiding, patriotic and good citizens among the Christians, Muslims and traditionalists but criminal elements are also in all faiths. It is the same among all ethnic groups. The fact that Evans is a kidnapper does not make all Igbo indigenes kidnappers. As we have criminal Fulanis and Tivs, so we have erudite scholars, seasoned lawyers, high profile politicians, experienced administrators and business moguls among them. Oyenusi, a Yoruba man, was the first armed robber executed by a firing squad in Nigeria, but does that make all Yoruba people armed robbers?

Those who ethnicise or religionise killings are enemies of Nigeria.

They are deliberately inviting anarchy. But we must exercise caution because nobody knows who will survive a national pogrom. How can anybody in his right senses say the killings in Benue are targeted at Christians?

Are the people of Zamfara also Christians?

Killings in Zamfara have been occurring for years yet nobody did anything. The Nigerian Army, the police and DSS went to sleep….

To cut a long story short, we charge the IG to conduct a comprehensive and impartial investigation, arrest, detain and prosecute all killers among the herdsmen, Benue militia, Bachama terrorists and all criminal elements who are cutting short the lives of innocent Nigerians. We urge the press to avoid assymetrical journalism and to Nigerianise their reportage, particularly in sensitive cases like that of Benue.

 

Courtesy: Press release on behalf of MURIC