Once again, herdsmen recently attacked farmers and villagers in Plateau State, killing over 150 people. Scores of houses were, in the process, set on fire. It was one attack too many. As in the past, anger, tears and condemnations have trailed this genocide, visited on the Plateau communities.
It is sad and condemnable that the attack happened in spite of time-worn cliché that government had deployed troops parading armoured personnel carriers, fighter jets and others in its armed forces’ artillery, to restore peace to the harried, helpless and hapless locals, who were said to be at the mercy of heavily armed Fulani herdsmen warriors. But with the latest unrestrained and unchallenged annihilation of about 11 villages in Plateau communities, evidence has shown that there is trouble, indeed, in the land.
This queer toleration of unjust attacks on one ethnic nationality by persons from the other, easily brings President Buhari to answer to accusations that he is weak-kneed in handling the situation, because the killer herdsmen are his kinsmen. If this thought assails, then, Nigeria’s tenuous unity is on the verge of snapping
The Plateau attack, which was beamed in its gory state on social media video, drew the ire of all right-thinking people across the world, and for the human rights community and other society groups, it was the eclipse of sunlight at noon. Well-meaning persons, socio-political groups, international organisations, and countries, who all had been buffeted with stories of bloodbath in Nigeria’s middle-belt region, could not contain the latest dastardly attacks.
The U.S, for instance, condemned it in strong terms. In a statement by Ms Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the U.S Department of State, the least the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari could do was to ensure that perpetrators of the attacks were brought to book.
Sadly, the resurgence of herdsmen’s attacks on villages and farmers in Plateau State, after a period of relative peace, is not only reprehensible but thoroughly condemnable.
As in the past attacks across other middle-belt states like Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying that it was in retaliation for the loss of about 300 cows to suspected rustlers. It is, therefore, strange, odd and bizarre, understanding how the Miyetti Allah group and their Fulani herdsmen foot-soldiers often equate human life with the animal’s.
It is also a reason most states in the country will henceforth find it odd and difficult to accept Fulani herdsmen on their soil. Also, it was Federal Government’s lukewarm attitude to the Miyetti Allah group and Fulani herdsmen attacks on their host communities that made Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group to say, last week, that no sliver of territory in Yorubaland was available for ranching.
The prime responsibility of government is security of lives and property. It amounts to total abdication of that sacred role when government cannot provide adequate security for the lives and property if its citizens, more so when its security agents, armed to the teeth, are around but cannot restore law and order until more than 100 valuable lives have been lost. This is sad and condemnable, with all vehemence.
The endless attacks on villagers in the Middle-Belt by the Miyetti Allah group and their marauding Fulani herdsmen have turned Nigeria to a laughing stock in the international arena and tarnished the image of the country among all societies that value human life. Today, Nigeria is viewed as a failed state and as a country where the government and its people place no premium on human life.
These killings are very heartbreaking, depressing and barbaric. It calls to question the purpose of having government at the three levels of the realm and then, of the usefulness of a security apparatus that cannot save people’s lives.
It is unfortunate that both federal and state governments have not found an acceptable solution to the attacks on villagers and farmers by the Miyetti Allah group and their Fulani herdsmen, particularly in the Middle Belt. To make matters worse, the Federal Government is proposing setting up of ranches in some states, in a manner likely to hurt the sensibilities of living victims of the senseless killings. Looking back at what the herdsmen had done to farmers and villagers in the last one year or so, it is doubtful if any community in the country will accept ranches on their land.
Also, it is inconceivable that while the MACBAN claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, the Federal Government has not brought any member of the group to face justice. Such a stance by the government makes people believe that government is condoning and using the apparatus of state security to protect the Miyetti Allah cattle breeders. It is unacceptable that government cannot bring a self-professed belligerent group in the nation to book, as has been witnessed in the case of this association.
Disappointingly, this queer toleration of unjust attacks on one ethnic nationality by persons from the other, easily brings President Buhari to answer to accusations that he is weak-kneed in handling the situation, because the killer herdsmen are his kinsmen. If this thought assails, then, Nigeria’s tenuous unity is on the verge of snapping, as it will simply give vent to the
unthinkable.
In addition, if the government wants to do justice and disabuse the minds of Nigerians that the MACBAN is not above the law, the government must arrest its leaders and make them face the wrath of the law. This is the way forward for the repose of the hundreds of people that the marauding Fulani herdsmen have sent to their early graves. And this will also make for peace for people who, quite regrettably, are inherently insecure in their native homes and various places of abode.
