…Why proposal for declaration of state of emergency in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna and Zamfara states won’t quell crisis
ONYEDIKA AGBEDO
The recent call by a Coalition of Northern Groups for the declaration of a state of emergency in states where the herdsmen menace has continued unabated despite the current efforts of the security agencies to restore peace and order has no doubt introduced a new twist to the issue. Under Section 305 of the 1999 constitution, the president has powers to issue a proclamation of a state of emergency in the federation or any part thereof, providing explicitly in sub-section 3 (c) that such powers can be invoked when “there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the federation or any part thereof to such extent as to require extraordinary measures to restore peace and security.”
It was against this backdrop that the northern coalition urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take the extra-ordinary measure of suspending the existing political structures in Taraba, Kaduna, Benue and Zamfara states and replacing them with sole administrators until the clashes between farmers and herdsmen, which has led to the brutal killing of hundreds of people cease.
Addressing journalists in Abuja last Tuesday, the Coalition’s spokesman, Abdulaziz Suleiman, said: “We call on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency in the frontline states of Taraba, Kaduna, Benue and Zamfara and suspend the current political structures in those states and replace them with sole administrators until conditions improve.”
Suleiman, who blamed the Federal Government’s slow response for the escalation of the conflict, urged government to publish the names of those killed during the course of the conflict, name and punish sponsors and perpetrators of the various acts of criminality.
He further urged the Federal Government to take immediate steps to disband all militia and armed groups by every means necessary in order to ensure that non-state actors did not have the capacity to challenge the state in its constitutional duty of ensuring the safety of lives and property.
Should Buhari accept the suggestion of the group, governors Samuel Ortom of Benue, Darius Ishaku of Taraba, Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna and Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara states and members of the state Houses of Assembly would be out of office for a period of six months provided the proclamation is not extended as provided in Section 305, sub-section 6 (c) of the constitution.
But will the proclamation of emergency rule in the affected states end the conflict? Will it provide the ultimate solution to the escalating clashes between herders and farmers across the country? What prompted the demand for emergency rule in the states when there is an ongoing military operation aimed at curbing the excesses of herdsmen in the North-central and North-west zones of the country, which has the support of the people, or is there an ulterior motive behind the call?
Recall that the Nigerian Army had announced that it would begin a major operation in the troubled states of Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kogi and Niger to restore peace and orderliness.
The exercise is tagged Ayem Akpatuma (Tiv language) meaning Cat Race. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, had said the exercise, which runs from February 15 to March 31, would be targeted at killer herdsmen, cattle rustlers, armed bandits, kidnappers, armed militias and other criminal elements in the six states.
Buratai, who spoke through the Chief of Training and Operations, Army Headquarters, Major- Gen. David Ahmadu, had said other security agencies that would be participating in the operation would include the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security organisations in the country.
Thus, not many people think that declaring a state of emergency in the affected states is necessary at this stage of the crisis.
To the umbrella body of Benue ethnic leaders including the Mdzough U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and Omi Ny’Igede, the call is irresponsible and unacceptable to the people of Benue State. They also see the view of the Coalition as “biased, reprehensible and evil.”
Speaking with newsmen last Thursday, chairman of the group of leaders, Chief Edward Ujege, said the call did not represent the views of the people of the North.
He noted: “It is unilateral and came from a coalition that is one sided, which did not have the representation of the entire northern people. What kind of coalition is that? If they think because they have the Presidency at the moment and can come out to make such reprehensible statements, we want to assure them it is not going to be easy to achieve such evil plot because we will oppose it with everything at our disposal. The plot is aimed at removing the Benue State Governor. So, they are calling on the Federal Government that they are planning to do an illegality. We will resist it because the crisis in Benue is simple, straight-forward and does not require state of emergency to deal with.”
He added: “It is a case of herdsmen attacking farmers; moreover, the anti-open grazing law was made through the House of Assembly for good governance and peaceful coexistence in the state. The group does not cover the entire North; it is a lawless group like Miyetti Allah, and as far as we are concerned they are terrorists.
“The truth is that if there is anybody that should be removed, it should be the Inspector General of Police and the Minister of Defence. These are the people who have failed in their constitutional duties. The constitutional provision is that every Nigerian should have peace and security. But the IGP and the Defence Minister have failed to ensure that, but have taken sides in the killings, which is unfortunate and highly condemnable.”
Also speaking with Sunday Sun on the issue, a 2019 presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Charles Udo Udeogaranya, described the call as unnecessary, noting that the Federal Government should take the blame for the crisis instead of the governors of the affected states.
“The call is completely unnecessary. The governors of the affected states have been writing to the Federal Government for help but no help came their way. So, what would they do? Although the Constitution says the governors are the chief security officers in their states, they don’t have the facilities to secure their states. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State for instance said he wrote several letters to the Federal Government to come to their aid but they never came. So, why should anybody blame or punish him? The call may have come from people who don’t mean well for those states,” Udeogaranya said.
The Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ibuchukwu Ohabuenyi Ezike, who also spoke in the same vein, took a swipe on members of the Coalition, noting that their call demonstrated that they support the herdsmen and as such should be arrested and treated as terrorists. Ezike also lambasted the Federal Government for its perceived docility in the build up to the crisis, warning that heeding the call by the group would amount to “pouring salt to an injury.”
He said: “The call for the declaration of state of emergency in the aforementioned states on account of herdsmen attacks is stupid and absolutely unwarranted. Every rational mind in Nigeria and the world over that has keenly followed herdsmen’s unprovoked ravaging of communities in Nigeria will understand that the host communities are being attacked without reasons except to satisfy the desires of their sponsors who want to incite war in Nigeria and use government’s patronage to kill innocent citizens under the guise of peace keeping. Rather than condemn the “keep mute and sit down watch” posture of the Buhari administration, and demand for his (Buhari’s) sack as the South Africans have done to Jacob Zuma, the group is calling for state of emergency in the states of the victims of the attacks. My take is that the Buhari government, if it is really sincere in combating terrorism in Nigeria, should arrest members of the coalition and treat them as terrorists because their call is a demonstration of the fact that they support the terror acts of the herdsmen. It is an irresponsible call; it is wicked and reprehensibly barbaric. The call is condemnable and is therefore hugely condemned.”
Warning that heeding the call would most likely escalate the crisis, he added: “How can the declaration of a state of emergency in the crisis-ridden states be the solution? Rather, it is akin to pouring salt to an injury. The only solution to the herdsmen menace is to arrest the perpetrators and their sponsors and prosecute them as criminals; not aggravating the situation by declaring a state of emergency as being nonsensically demanded by that primitive group.”
Asked whether he suspected that the Coalition had an ulterior motive in making the call, Ezike explained: “Like I said earlier, there are sponsors of herdsmen attacks on unsuspecting communities across Nigeria, especially in the Middle Belt region and the entire South. It is an Islamisation agenda being pursued under a Federal Government run by a man who is a cattle owner, President Buhari. I say this because the rise of herdsmen attacks on Nigerians is not because a Fulani, as some people have erroneously held, is the President of Nigeria. No! We have had presidents of this country who are Fulani. But we never had crisis of this propensity where human beings are slaughtered like animals and where animals are much more valued than human lives. Never! We have had Alhaji Shehu Shagari and the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as presidents. Both gentle men are Fulani. We didn’t have these kinds of wickedness perpetrated against our people and nothing happened. This government is evil and barbaric and should be held culpable for these brazen and atrocious human rights violations, not the Fulanis. So, to answer your question, there is an ulterior motive which is to entirely Islamise Nigeria and make us a feudal colony as some Islamic scholars and extremists have dubiously postulated and still hold.”
Nevertheless, it is not clear yet whether Buhari is considering the option of emergency rule as solution to incessant killings in the affected states as a result of conflicts between herders and farmers. What is absolutely clear is that the constitution empowers him to explore the option. And should he choose to, he would be acting within his powers and there is nothing anybody or group can do.
It could be recalled that on May 18, 2004, then president Olusegun Obasanjo declared emergency rule in Plateau State in the wake of weeks of fighting between Christians and Muslims that also gave rise to reprisal attacks in Kano State. Obasanjo had accused then governor Joshua Dariye of failing to act to end a cycle of violence between Muslim and Christian communities in the state, and thereby opened the gate for the bloodletting that reportedly claimed more than 2,000 lives between September 2001and May 2004.
Also on May 14, 2013, then president Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three northern states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, in an attempt to curtail the activities of insurgents and terrorists, which had taken over part of Nigeria’s territories in those states.
In these two cases, which represent instances of such proclamation since the restoration of democracy in the country in 1999, no amount of indignation expressed by the affected people could force the government to revert the decision. Therefore, the best bet for leaders of the affected states is to explore all possible options to enthrone peace and ensure that they get the job done.