The Agatu communal conflict

Scores of houses and other property, including crops, economic trees and fishponds, were destroyed in the dawn attack launched by assailants suspected to be herdsmen, who were said to have come from Loko area in neighbouring Nasarawa State.Some survivors said the attackers came in large numbers wearing different types of military-type uniforms and looked like […]

Scores of houses and other property, including crops, economic trees and fishponds, were destroyed in the dawn attack launched by assailants suspected to be herdsmen, who were said to have come from Loko area in neighbouring Nasarawa State.
Some survivors said the attackers came in large numbers wearing different types of military-type uniforms and looked like ‘foreigners’.  If such accounts are credible, they raise the question how the attackers managed to evade security agencies.
There have been frequent clashes between the two communities over the years, but none was as deadly as the latest one, which came just about two months after suspected herdsmen attacked other Agatu settlements that claimed the lives of at least 17 villagers.
The police had said that those involved in the January episode escaped in boats in a guerrilla manner, suggesting that they had come from outside the state. The March 15 mayhem, with the unusually high casualty figure, could threaten ongoing effort to end the longstanding disputes over farmlands and grazing areas that first came to the fore in October 2013 and has since defied solution.
Before then, the Agatu community and Fulani herdsmen had cohabited peacefully for decades. There is no serious reason why this should not continue to be the case now.
Many accounts point the finger of blame at Fulani herdsmen, but Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has often cast doubts over such claims, at one occasion noting that the attackers were not ‘the ordinary Fulani herdsmen that the villagers see every day’. That has deepened the uncertainty of who the attackers might be.
Suswam said last week that he would meet and brief President Goodluck Jonathan on the issue.
However, Senate President David Mark, who hails from the Benue community, claimed in a statement that those involved were Fulani herdsmen. He also announced that President Jonathan had set up an ‘urgent probe’ into the bloody encounter.
While report of the investigation is awaited, it is time government are all levels joined hands to find an enduring solution to these conflicts, not just in Agatu but the entire Benue State and other parts of Nigeria to check the wanton loss of lives and destruction of property.
Whatever the issues at stake are, resorting to violence to deal with perceived or real grievances is not acceptable and justifiable; those who perpetrate it must be identified and punished.
Peace and reconciliation efforts over the years involving the governments of Benue and Nasarawa states, and the Nigeria Interfaith Committee are yet to bear fruits, but they should not relent. The violence has continued unabated because no culprits of previous attacks were apprehended and prosecuted.
To strengthen the process, the federal government should deploy adequate security personnel to protect communities on the borders of Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa states while peace-building efforts are accelerated.
 The federal government should also consider setting up a joint commission with the neighbouring states specifically to address the nagging problem to forestall future outbreak of violence and killings.
In the interim, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) should step in quickly to provide relief materials for the estimated 20,000 people displaced by the violence, who are taking refuge in Obagaji, the council headquarters and in surrounding villages.
All the parties must learn to recognise and respect the rights of one another and be willing to make compromises to ensure peaceful coexistence.