Killings: Nigeria getting close to anarchy – Amnesty Int’l

The Amnesty International has warned the leadership of the country to be more proactive in addressing the clashes between herdsmen and farmers, saying that the the situation is degenerating to a “breaking point” of anarchy.

The Director of Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho, stated this on Thursday during a monitored Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily.

Ojigho expressed worry over the incessant attacks by suspected herdsmen on some communities in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa and Zamfara States.

She said, “We are really reaching a boiling point of total anarchy. If you are to look at how things are developing, there’s a lot of anger from different affected communities and including those who actually are bearing the brunt of losing family members at this time of the year.

“We’ve been following the incessant killings that have been happening in this sort of clashes throughout last year and, of course, at the beginning of the year we woke up to experience another wave at an escalating level that we never thought would get to this point.

She also claimed that governments at both federal and state levels are only doing little to address the issue.

The human rights group asked federal and state governments to ensure the perpetrators of the killings are arrested and made to face the wrath of the law immediately as a deterrent to others.

She said, “For us, what is really shocking is that we are yet to find a concrete response by government whether it’s at federal level or state level in terms of ensuring that those that are perpetuating these killings are arrested, are prosecuted, and actually the course of justice is allowed to proceed without any sort of fear or favour.”

The Daily Times recalls that Federal Government had stated its determination to holistically address the clashes which it said have become a major national tragedy.

“The government is very concerned about the herdsmen and farmers clashes and they are receiving attention at the highest level,” the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, had said on Wednesday.

The Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, had also arrived in Benue on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, while the Nigerian Army had deployed special forces to protect vulnerable communities in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states.

Myke Uzendu, Abuja