Let’s stop the Agatu killings

There must be something about Nigerians that makes us no longer shocked about killings. Death is the end no doubt but when a group of people seemingly get so desensitized about murders on a scale like what happened in the Agatu towns and villages of Benue State, there must be a lot wrong with such people.

Going by what reports over the weekend, the killings are still ongoing and a senator, David Mark, nearly became one of the casualties in the low-intensity war in the food basket of the nation. Unless blood no longer flows in one’s veins, the photographs of destruction and casualties coming out of the war will leave one speechless and terrified. The machete cuts looked so deep that one wonders whether one person actually wielded it or not.

But how did we get here? Where did we lose it as a nation that it has become practically impossible for people to sleep and work peacefully in their homesteads? How did we get to the stage where beyond occasional petty thieves and burglars, banditry and militiamen are regular features of our daily lives? True, this is a crisis that has been simmering for a while as the antics of Fulani herdsmen are well known all over Nigeria. It is doubtful if there is any state in the country that has not been at the receiving end of the activities of these people seeking pasture for their animals. As I write, the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti management had cried out about the destruction of the school’s farm by Fulani herdsmen seeking protection of the security agencies.

Remember also how on October 13, 2000, Muhammadu Buhari led a team which included former military governor of Lagos State, Buba Marwa and others to late Lam Adesina, former Oyo State governor, ostensibly accusing Adesina and the state government of complicity in the killing of over 68 Fulani people in the Oke Ogun Area. “The Fulani cattle rearers and merchants are today being harassed, attacked and killed in Saki. In the month of May 2000, 68 bodies of Fulani cattle rearers were recovered and buried under the supervision and protection from team of Mobile Police from Oyo State Command. Some arrests were made by the Oyo State Police Command.” Our president further accused the state government of facilitating the release of those arrested in connection with the alleged murders, an allegation which the police commissioner debunked and Adesina thereafter reminded Buhari and Marwa of their duty of care to all citizens as former leaders and advising the herdsmen from being aggressive always.

Recounting this incident here is not to tarnish Buhari’s image but to underscore his government’s inaction on these latest attacks. All politicians in Nigeria retreat to their ethnic enclave one moment or the other, so why blaming one of them? It is doubtful if there is one person in any part of Nigeria that has not been affected by the rampaging herdsmen. Farmlands have been destroyed, women have been raped, and farmers killed solely because some people wanted to graze their animals. A legitimate business which is killing other businesses and wiping out villages and towns. Our government has not covered itself in gold with the way the Agatu killings have been handled. The president has not said anything beyond the promise that the government will set up a panel to investigate the killings which has not been set up till date. Of course the president does not have to respond to all issues but the scale of the killings in Agatu deserves not just a presidential pronouncement but also a presidential visit.

Our senators compounded the matter when without any investigation they declared that Boko Haram perpetrated the attacks having been dislodged from the Northeast. The Inspector General of Police in a moment of insensitivity that betrayed his position said that the casualties figure were not as high as reported solely because he did not see as many corpses while he visited the place. All these showed that we are still not interested in stopping the carnage but only allowing it to go on. The politicians from Benue State too have been a letdown in the saga, from the governor to the senators and agriculture minister who is more interested in importing grasses or seeds for grazing than calling attention to the plight of their people. Fine, David Mark has claimed it is “genocide” against his people, but beyond that, what next?

To the rest of us Nigerians involved in this conspiracy of silence, remember that it could be your people’s turn tomorrow. Let’s stop the Agatu killings today.