Benue State Commissioner for Information, Mike Inelagwu, talks to ALEXANDER OKERE about the rising insecurity in the state, including the killing over 80 people in the Guma and Otukpo local government areas of the state, and what Governor Samuel Ortom has done to address the problem
Over 30 people taking refuge in an internally displaced person’s camp at LGEA Primary School, Mgban, in Nyiev council ward, in the Guma Local Government Area of the state were reportedly killed by suspected armed herders. What did the government’s preliminary investigation show as to what exactly transpired?
That of Guma was a total massacre of people in an internally displaced person’s camp. They (IDPs) were sleeping in the night and herdsmen just went there in the wee hours and killed about 35 people; it was the same thing that they did in Umogidi, in the Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State. They came and killed three people. The following day, people gathered in the village to bury the corpses but unfortunately, while they were covering the bodies, they (gunmen) surrounded the place and massacred 46 mourners, including the son of the local government chairman. Then they went to Logo and killed 33 people the following day.
So, the killings are unprovoked. There is nothing like herders-farmers crises. It is a grand design to make sure that people leave their ancestral homes for them to occupy the place for their grazing and practice of animal husbandry. We are at the mercy of God. The Federal Government sent in some security men last year but the spate of killings is so overwhelming that they (security agents) cannot withstand it. Right now, the governor is calling for more troops to be deployed to the state. To be candid with you, it is the agreement that the All Progressives Congress government had with the incoming administration that the anti-grazing law should not be implemented in Benue during their time.
This is not the first time Guma has come under attack. Killings were reported in April and September 2022 and in February this year. Why is that local government area prone to attacks?
Don’t look at Guma now; look at Benue. Let me tell you, the planners and executioners of the plan reside in Lafia (in Nasarawa State) and Guma shares a boundary with Nasarawa. Agatu shares a boundary with Nasarawa State. Makurdi shares a boundary with Nasarawa. Logo shares a boundary with Nasarawa. All the bounder towns are prone to these attacks. Recently, they (gunmen) went to Kwande and Otukpo local government areas, having overwhelmed Agatu and taken over neighbouring local government areas.
What is the official number of people killed in the recent attack in Guma last Friday?
Some (victims) are still receiving treatment but the total number of corpses recovered in Guma, to the best of my knowledge, is 38; that of Umogidi is 49, Akpa about, 11; Agatu, 16, and Logo, 33. I don’t have the figure for Kwande now.
This is not the first time. You will remember that between 2012 and 2017, they killed 3,920 people in the Agatu Local Government Area and the number of people killed in Guma to date are more than 500. What I can tell you is that Benue State has recorded the killing of over 5,000 people, not to talk of properties that have been destroyed.
The governor alleged that the attacks in the state were carried out by suspected herdsmen. How did he confirm that or did the state government’s preliminary investigation show that the perpetrators were of Fulani extraction?
Let me tell you something; this is not a hidden thing. You will see the herders moving with their cows with AK47s without fear. So, it is not an allegation. It is something we have seen. The people they meet on their farms are killed instantly. They do not hide their AK47s.
Governor Samuel Ortom told the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to go beyond issuing condolence messages over the killings in Benue and order security agencies to smoke out the terrorists attacking residents. Why does the governor doubt the efforts of the President to address the killings?
Is a condolence message the solution to the killings? What the governor meant by telling him to go the extra mile is that more security agents should be drafted to Benue to take care of these senseless killings. He (the governor) did not doubt him (President); if he did, he would not have called for the deployment of more security agents.
Is the governor helpless as far as the killings are concerned?
The governor has the antidote but for the political differences. We came up with the formation of community volunteer guards to reduce the killings and augment the activities of conventional security agencies but the Buhari administration refused to arm them (volunteer guards). He (Ortom) is helpless because they (Buhari) refused to yield to the request. If he (Buhari) had yielded, he (the governor) would not have been helpless. How do we try an alternative when the President refused to grant him (Ortom) an audience to intimate him about what is happening in the state? The same (Federal) government that vowed not to discriminate is discriminating against the government of Samuel Ortom.
How will you describe the level of security provided by security agencies in the state?
They have tried their best but the Fulani activities are overwhelming. Do you know that we have lost over 100 security agents in the hands of these senseless people? The killings are not restricted to Benue. When a Benue man is seen with a Dane gun, he is arrested but when a Fulani is seen carrying an AK47, he is licensed because he is born to rule.
Why do you think the security agencies deployed to handle the problem have been overwhelmed?
The security agents move on the road while the Fulani herdsmen move in the forests and any part of the land is their road. They can move through thick forests bare-footed and have turned them into a desert. They can only apprehend them when they are seen moving on the roads but they do not use the roads. They tie their ammunition on the back of their cows and when you see them, you would think it is their food but it is not. Do the police have checkpoints in the bushes?
Last year, the state government reviewed its Anti-Open Grazing, Ranching and Prohibition Law 2017 and introduced stiffer penalties, despite the criticism by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria that the law is anti-Fulani. Does Governor Ortom have a personal grudge against the Fulani?
There is nothing like anti-Fulani in this state. This is the law that was promulgated in the interest of harmonious living between farmers and herders. Do you know that there are some people from Benue rearing cattle? I have more than 50 cows. What did I do? I kept them in a secluded place and because I don’t have much money, I kept them there so that my brothers could feed them with grass and cassava peels. The law states that even if a goat belonging to a Benue man is seen destroying a farmer’s crops, the goat will be apprehended and the owner will pay a fine. So, it (the law) was not targeted at the Fulani; it is meant for anybody residing in Benue State and practising animal husbandry
How effective has the Anti-Open Grazing, Ranching, and Prohibition Law?
It has been effectively implemented but the Federal Government is frustrating our activities. The law stipulates that anyone who wants to practise animal husbandry should write and if an animal is found grazing openly and encroaching on anybody’s farm, the owner of the animal will pay a fine.
How many people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for going against the law?
For the past three years, we have prosecuted about 400 Fulani in court. Some paid fines and some were sent to custodial centres.
Last month, the Benue State Emergency and Management Agency, claimed that over 5,000 people in 18 of the 23 local government areas of the state have been killed by armed herders since 2015…
But I told you earlier that over 5,000 people have been killed and specifically told you that in the Agatu Local Government Area, we lost 3,920 people between 2012 and 2017.
But the agency did not account for the alleged killing of herders as claimed by MACBAN. Why is that so?
If some people went to a local government area and killed over 100 people and claimed responsibility, what do you expect the Federal Government to do to such a group of people? Are they not terrorists? Have they been declared terrorists? When have they been left unchallenged? Because Buhari is their patron? The people who claimed responsibility for the killing of innocent Nigerians have not been tried since 2012.
But the question I asked is why Benue SEMA did not give a figure for the number of herders killed in Benue as alleged by MACBAN?
Herders? Let them (MACBAN) show us the body of one herder that was killed in Benue State. We have been displaying the bodies of 100, and 50 people killed. Let them show us the body of one herder that was killed. Were they killed with machetes? If they were killed with machetes, let us see the bodies. We (Benue people) have never killed a herder. They (herders) are the ones killing us. Have you ever seen in the media the bodies of herders that were killed by Benue people? No! but each time, they say some of their members were killed.
As the chief security of the state, what is the state government doing to protect the lives of the residents?
We applied for the licence to buy AK47s for our community volunteers but the President turned it down. We are going to hold an emergency executive council meeting and at the end of it, we are going to brief the press about it
Is the state government concerned that the bloodshed in Benue may have marred Governor Ortom’s administration, as it winds up, giving it a bad legacy?
The bloodshed cannot be Ortom’s legacy. He has tried his best for the people of Benue State. It is left for those who went and had an alliance with Miyetti Allah to rig the election and allow them to come to Benue State. Ortom has tried his best. Benue people are aware of those who collected money from two governors in the North and used the money for the elections, and that whatever the case, they will allow the Fulani to take over our land and graze freely.
The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, also known as Miyetti Allah, last year sued the governor at the International Criminal Court of Justice, Hague, for allegedly violating the rights of Fulani herders in his state. Is he prepared to face the case?
Until they have evidence, they cannot drag him to any criminal court because he has not done anything outside the law of the land. There is nothing anybody can have against Ortom. Just take it from me. He has not committed any offence. He will walk freely and enjoy his life after his tenure.
The governor-elect, Fr Hyacinth Alia, assured that his administration would work with relevant security agencies to end the killings. What is your reaction to that?
I cannot comment on whatever the APC government has in stock for the state. All I want to tell you is that we will wind up on May 29 and we have done our best to ensure that the killings in our state are reduced to the barest minimum. If they (APC) have the capacity to bring them (killings) to an end, so shall it be. We will be happy but I want to tell you that they don’t have what it takes to stop them (killings).
Why do you think so and what does it take?
In the first place, I am a politician and farmer in Benue State, and I know how the attackers operate. It is not only in Benue State that the Fulani are killing people. If you go to Taraba (State), it is the same thing. If you go to Sokoto and Zamfara states, it is the same thing, also in the South-East. So, there is no level of agreement you will have with them that will not make them not go ahead and kill people because they want to acquire the land for their personal use.
As part of efforts to address insecurity in the South-East and South-West, governors in the region came together to form regional security outfits. Have governors in the North-Central considered the idea?
North-Central cannot, based on some reasons. We have religious dichotomy in the North-Central. If you go to Kwara, and Nasarawa, they (residents) are predominantly Muslims but when you go to Benue, Taraba, and Plateau States, they are Christians. So, some look at the killings as what they can bear. For us, when someone is in their house and they are killed, it was not God that sent the killer; it was someone else’s dubious act.
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