From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
For Chief Simon Ajoh, Mue Ter Ihyarev, and the Kale family of Abagena community in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, life has lost its meaning.
For them, January 19, 2023, would remain a sad day, as gunmen suspected to be herdsmen killed nine persons, including a family of six: a husband, two wives and children, and injured many others in a vicious attack on Abagena, a community hosting an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, in Makurdi LGA of the state.
To many, it was a rude reminder of the killing of 79 persons in Benue communities of Guma, Logo Ukum, Agatu and other LGAs, on January 1, 2018. The Abagena attack was one in the series of attacks perpetrated against innocent Benue farmers in the last eight years.
Abagena is a sleepy community located along the Makurdi/Lafia highway. The terrain is a flat land without bushes or trees and allows one to see as far as kilometers away.
A grief-stricken father, who narrated their ordeal at the hands of the killers, said he lost not just an heir but also a son dear to his heart in the recent attack. He intermittently wiped his face with his handkerchief as he narrated how his 43-year-old son was shot, macheted and killed in cold blood.
According to Chief Ajoh, the herdsmen came when people were preparing to go to bed: “There was no form of provocation or previous quarrel between us. By the time the security came, they had killed nine persons.
“The past incident was one too many. This is not the first time. We have had series of such incidents here. This is about the fourth time we are being attacked, where so many people were killed by these herders.
“That was my first son. He’s about 43 years old. He ran out of his house and at a point on the highway, he was shot dead. They started shooting, killing and maiming people around.”
The Mue Ter, who cried out to the federal government to rescue Benue from armed bandits, said: “We are very apprehensive over what is happening, not only in my chiefdom but in the whole of Benue and also in some parts of Nigeria. Everyone is worried.
“We have been crying and the state government has been beckoning on the federal government. The federal government is in charge of security, so they are not doing enough, particularly this time that we are approaching election. People are displaced from their places of abode. How do they come back to vote.
“When you look at the way they carried out the last attack, you will see that what they are interested in is not grazing their cattle. They have not been grazing here. They just came in to kill. We have no problem with them, we are not at war, no cow was rustled, no provocation whatsoever, nothing.”
He also said that the herders committed a sacrilege when they beheaded one of the victims and took his head along with them, leaving behind pools of blood and stains as they fled the scene.
Relatives of the family of six, Daniel Kale and Vincent Shagbaor, were in deep pains when they spoke to our correspondent. “This attack has been happening before and we are not seeing any solution. Where we are now, it has happened many times, Sometimes, the government will tell us they have sent security but we would not see any security,” they lamented.
Kale said “These people come with sophisticated weapons. The weapons are not ordinary weapons. When they came, they were shooting sporadically. There was no where to hide, nowhere to escape.”
Vincent Shagbaor was away and was called that herdsmen entered his father’s house and killed everybody.
“They killed my father, my brother and his family, about seven people. When will this stop? Government has to do something to secure our communities,” he said.
Also speaking, an elderly woman, who identified herself simply as Mama Zaan, was visibly shaking. She said she and her grand children were saved by the whiskers. She lamented that with all the suffering they were already passing through, she would have died of hunger that day.
“I had not had dinner when the incident happened. I had just taken my bathe and was about to put my grand children to bed when I heard gunshots. I was so afraid for their lives and mine,” she disclosed.
Grabbing her stomach to show how tight she held unto the children, Mama, who spoke through an interpreter, said: “I held them tightly to my body. From our hiding place, I heard people running here and there to escape being killed and I prayed to God to spare our lives. It was a terrible experience. As I’m talking to you, I am feeling like it’s happening afresh.”
She lamented that they don’t have any issues with Fulani herders in the community and wondered why the herders will single them out for such attacks. “We are farmers and we don’t look for trouble but the Fulani have decided to be killing us. We call on government to protect us because we are Nigerians too,” she said.
Another resident Martins Aza, condemned the incessant attacks on the state and called on the federal government to consider the pleas of Governor Samuel to arm the Benue State Community Volunteers (BSCVG), to enable them secure Benue.
“Let us be given opportunity to acquire these arms for ourselves so that we would be able to defend ourselves and our land,” he appealed.
Our correspondent reports that after the attack, prominent sons of the state, including the Governor Ortom, visited the community as well as the hospital where eight injured persons were receiving treatment to sympathize with the community and families of those who lost their loved ones.
During his visit to the community, Executive Secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Emmanuel Shior, could not hide his grief. On seeing relatives, especially aged mothers and fathers, crying and lamenting the death of their loved ones, Shior and most people on his entourage broke down and wept bitterly.
While he was being awaited to address the mourners and members of the community, he could hardly find words as tears flowed freely from his eyes.
When he finally spoke, Shior described the attack as inhuman, barbaric and unacceptable. He said that nothing should trigger a human being to attack people who have accepted their fate and went to stay in the camps for safety.
“My heart breaks a thousand times at the rate things keep degenerating to the extent that you never can tell who will be the next victim,” he said.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to live up to his constitutional responsibility of defending the country against terrorism and attacks by criminal elements in the country, saying: “Whether civilian or law enforcement agent, you can fall victim.
“It’s a shame that the President, who is the Chief Security Officer of this country, wouldn’t rise up to defend the people who entrusted their lives into his hands.”
He urged the people to continue to support Ortom for his stance against the invaders, assuring that the country will one day attend to the cries of the Benue people. He commiserated with families of the deceased and prayed God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.
Ortom also visited victims of Fulani herdsmen attacks on Abagena IDPs camp at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, (BSUTH), Makurdi, where they were receiving treatment.
Ortom was visibly saddened on sighting the victims with various degrees of war-like injuries. He said: “This is my pain. Since 2015, I have cried out loud that the federal government is complicit in the issues of terrorism, raising Fulani in Niger from Futa Jalon (Senegal), Cameroon, Mauritania, Libya and other parts of the world so that they will come to Nigeria and take it and make it their country.
“One thing that pains me is that these people have not hidden their intentions and they are known. The federal government is protecting them. I have called for the arrest of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore several times. I have written to the Presidency. I have written to DSS, I have written to the police and yet they are adamant. It is not that these people are not known, they are known.”
While insisting that the federal government was protecting killer herdsmen, who have continued to perpetrate unprovoked killings in Benue State, Ortom added that “the day that the federal government wants these acts of terrorism against our people to end, that will be it. But for now they are complicit. They are working with them to push for the take-over of this country and make this country a Fulani nation.
“I am quoting the Fulani National Movement, I am quoting Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, who are responsible for these recruitment and killings that are going on. No one has attempted to even call these people and question them and do the needful. If we are a country that believes in the rule of law, this will not continue.
“We are fed up with this kind of lawlessness that is going on. I have restrained myself from becoming a lawless governor or a lawless leader, because this will lead to anarchy and when we get to that level that is war and nobody can pray for war.”
Some of the victims included 14-year-old Emberga Ukpoor whose hand was cut-off, Terna Ikyaan was hot in the abdomen and 14-year-old Kwaghve Terkimbi’s ear was chopped off. Agber Ikyume, Regina Gbashaor, Eunice Iyua were inflicted with various degrees of injuries while an aged woman, Esther Num, was shot at and the bullet penetrated her waist.
When this correspondent visited the hospital, some of the relatives of the victims said life had been tough for them before but their present situation was beyond what words could describe.
“When an innocent 14-year-old boy’s hand is cut off, his future has been cut off also. His dreams have been killed. We used to help our parents on the farm, now he can never do that again and if care is not taken he will be depending on people to do so many things for him in the future. This is not fair. He has not offended anyone, not even the herdsmen,” Emberga’s brother lamented.
They all called government to put an end to attacks and killings in the country, especially in Benue State, saying they are happy it is election time and they will speak their mind through their votes.
The Benue State government, in a bid to address insecurity in the state, recruited, trained and kitted over 1,500 personnel in the Community Volunteer Guards. According to the governor, the target is to recruit 10,000 persons to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies in providing security to the state.
Ortom said he had written to the federal government to allow him acquire sophisticated weapons like AK47 to arm and enable the security guards function optimally but the request was declined.
He has, however, gone ahead to provide them with operational vehicles, motorbikes and other equipment to assist them move around the state and perform their duties. The day he presented the vehicles, a visibly angry Ortom said Benue has been pushed to the wall with persistent attacks on innocent farmers by herdsmen militia and he was not going to sit and fold his hands and allow his people to be wiped out.