Merchants of death mar new year celebrations for Nigerians

“For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, woe is me now! For my soul is wearied because of murderers.” Jeremiah 4: 31 KJV.

Yes those who chose New Year’s Day or period to unleash terror and sorrow on certain parts of Nigeria from the North to the South are murderers as the Scripture quoted above has rightly described them. Not only that, they can also be described as sadists, terrorists and merchants of death since these criminals have chosen a unique festive period to strike – a time that many Nigerians are rejoicing that the Almighty God has just enabled them to survive the previous year and they were happy that they have finally crossed-over into the New year hale and hearty. Some of these victims might even been those who came from their work-stations in the cities or even abroad to rejoice and spend the yuletide period with their families and friends in their home towns/villages.

First to be recorded was the murder of a Second-Cass Traditional Ruler with his pregnant wife in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria who reportedly left his palace to celebrate the New Year in his village. His assailants allegedly also went ahead to burn the Traditional Ruler’s house and car.

And in the Southern Nigeria precisely in Rivers State, some dare devil criminals suspected to be cult members reportedly opened fire and shot sporadically on some worshippers who were returning from a Crossover Night/Watch Night Service where they must have thanked God for enabling them to survive year 2017. But alas, these merchants of death chose to cut their dreams for the New Year 2018 short by sending some of them into their untimely graves.

Definitely these bad boys could be under the influence of drugs and satanic powers. And their motives could not be ascertained since they did not rob the victims of their mindless attacks.

As if these blood-chilling reports were not enough to mar the festive mood of a nation that is supposed to be in New Year celebrations with the rest members of the International Community, that is the same period that some suspected Fulani herdsmen who have been having running-battles with farmers across the country also decided to strike at the belly part of the nation in Benue State. And for two days-Monday January 1st to Tuesday 2nd 2018, these assailants were having an orgy of violence.

According to news report credited to Channels Television and some online Media, these merchants of death were maiming, killing and setting ablaze the properties/houses of their victims. And it was that bad that the Governor of the State had to cry out for help and requested for deployment of the Military to curtail/checkmate the activities of these prowlers/assailants. But not until about 50 people were reportedly killed while 30 others were inflicted with varying degrees of injuries by these suspected Fulani herdsmen who were obviously venting their anger on the Anti Open-Grazing Law that the Benue State Government recently promulgated to prevent cattle grazing on the farmlands of its farmers leading to destruction of crops.

According to an online report credited to Amebo, the Benue State Chairman of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), Abba Yaro wondered and queried a barbaric account in which a pregnant woman was killed, got the unborn child removed and yet slaughtered it. Yaro concluded that it was an ethnic-cleansing by the Fulanis that is targeted against the Benue people. And if proper care is not taken, Abba Yaro cautioned that the ongoing crisis may be an invitation to a second civil-war which nobody prays for. Actually, no one is sure whether the group that committed this horrendous act were indigenous Fulani men or mercenaries, if at all they were humans.

There are no doubts that the matters arising from the above narrated ugly scenarios have grave National Security implications. One thing is clear, and it is the fact that there are still proliferation of fire arms and ammunition in the hands of militia groups and unauthorized hands in this country. And this is not a good omen as the General Elections year-2019 draws closer. In fact, it portends a grave danger for the peaceful conduct of free and fair elections and proper management of a possible post-election crisis or violence.

The second matter that should be noted is the unrepentant/ unremorseful altitude of these suspected Fulani herdsmen that seems to have defied every logic and solutions. But the reason may not be far-fetched. If the Presidency wants the menace to stop, it will stop with an immediate alacrity. The President as Number One herdsman rears his own cattle in a ranch that is well-defined in Daura, but he seems to turn a blind eye as some suspected Fulani herdsmen allow their cattle to graze on the farmlands of some crop-farmers as they transverse the length and breadth of this country. There have been reports or even video clips where Fulani herdsmen holding AK47 rifles let their cattle loose to feast on a heap of yams in a farm. Apart from acts of trespassing and illegal grazing on some farmlands, leading to the killing, maiming or raping the spouses or girls of the farmers who dared to challenge them, some of them are also allegedly involved in other criminal acts of armed-robbery and kidnapping for ransom.

As we had earlier noted in our previous articles, if the Federal Government does not tackle this Fulani herdsmen menace that has become a national phenomenon, all its efforts to revolutionise agriculture and boost agriculture production may be tantamount to paying lip-service to its policy on agriculture since the crop-farmers are being scared out of their farmlands and running into the cities for their dear lives.

However, as professionals /experts in crisis-management, our security agents know what to do to restrain or checkmate the excesses of these suspected Fulani herdsmen; but they are probably gauging and interpreting the body language of President Muhammad Buhari on the matter. In other words, the security agents are not sure whether the
President meant what he says on the matter since in some cases, he chooses to keep mute.

They must have reasoned that the actions of Mr. President through his ominous silence and body language speak louder than any press-statements from any organ of his government including the ministries of interior, information or offices of his aides on media and publicity. For instance in the recent Benue massacre, the Governor of the State, Samuel Ortom who also hails from one of the Local Government Areas that was attacked reportedly claimed that he sent an Intelligence report to the Federal Government on the pending attack before it happened.

The governor did not elaborate to which agency of the Federal Government he sent his Intelligence report to -whether it was sent to the Military, the Police, the DSS or The Presidency itself. Also despite being considered a national phenomenon by many Nigerians and security experts, the President did not mention the menace of Fulani herdsmen in the list of security issues to be tackled during his New Year Day address to the nation.

Lastly, while we are using this medium to express our condolence to the governments and peoples of Kaduna, Rivers and Benue states, especially the bereaved families, who have lost their loved ones when they were supposed to be rejoicing with themselves, it is our candid opinion that our political leaders should eschew any form of sentiments and allow our Security Agencies to do their work with the aim of reducing crimes to the barest minimum in our society. We can even achieve a crime free country like Norway and Netherlands where jail-houses are reportedly free for lack of prisoners. With God on our side and back-up with the necessary political-will, it is attainable. Succinctly speaking, a crime free society is achievable in Nigeria if there is political will to encourage our security agents to work with every sense of patriotism and without any fear of stepping on any big toe in the course of doing their assignments and when this is done, the better for our overall national security which will ultimately accelerate the progress and development of this nation in every field of human endeavour. Meanwhile, irrespective of the self-inflicted afflictions we found ourselves as a nation, we still thank God as we wish ourselves a prosperous and Happy New Year.

Gbemiga Olakunle, JP is General Secretary, National Prayer Movement gbemigaolakunle@yahoo.co.uk