• SERAP urges UN to hold special session on killings

• You’ve betrayed democracy, promoted genocide, Hagher tells Buhari

By Murphy
Ganagana, Jos, Godwin Tsa and Fred Ezeh, Abuja, Rose Ejembi,
Makurdi, and  
Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos

Barely one week after armed herdsmen invaded six communities in Benue State, killing no fewer than 50 persons, Governor Samuel Ortom, has accused the Federal Government of ignoring the state’s persistent calls for assistance. He also said the headquarters of perpetrators of the attacks and their leaders are based in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This is coming at a time when Second Republic senator and former minister, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari over killings by Fulani herdsmen in Benue and other parts of the country, accusing him of  betraying “democracy and promoting genocide.”
He asked President Buhari to step aside so that another person would take over the mantle of leadership and solve the country’s problems.
In an interview with Daily Sun, Ortom accused the Federal Government of not doing anything over herdsmen’s attack in Benue, revealing that the authorities were notified over threats to attack the communities but nothing was done.
“The security in Benue State is doing its best. It is not that the perpetrators are not known. They are known, and we’ve been reporting them. They are coming from other parts of the country to attack us. But their headquarters and their leaders are in Abuja. And it’s not that they did not inform us; we were threatened and we reported this to the authorities, the security authorities of this country, and nothing has been done,” said Ortom.
The governor said Miyetti Allah’s leaders issued a threat after he signed the anti-open grazing law.
According to him, “they threatened that, first, they would not accept the law, and they would do everything to stop the implementation, that they would go against it, and they will mobilise their members to fight and frustrate the implementation. We reported them. They did not issue this threat once. They issued it several times through press conferences. They are on video, they are on audio, they were published in the papers, that they were going to attack the state, and we reported them.
“So, it is not that they are not known. The police are aware, the DSS are aware; the NSA is aware of this.”
Ortom said he would concentrate on solving the killings in Benue and, therefore, would not engage in politics for now.
Said he: “Let me tell you, I am not talking about politics now. Whether presidency or no presidency, governor or no governor; whether I am re-elected or not, that is not my concern. My concern now is how I will stop the killings that are going on, because I cannot be politicking with dead people; I am not a dead man,” he said, his nostrils belching fire.
The Benue State governor spoke on these and other things in a full interview on Page 45.
Meanwhile, Hagher, lambasted President Buhari over killings by Fulani herdsmen in Benue and other parts of the country.
In an open letter to Buhari, entitled ‘You have betrayed democracy and promoted genocide,”  Hagher  said Buhari had betrayed his campaign promise to Nigerians that his government “‘will always act in time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester” by allowing the genocide in the Middle Belt to go on unimpeded.
He asked the President to “step aside and open the political space for another person to continue your war against corruption with a more comprehensive development program that Nigeria needs and deserves.”
The former minister told Buhari to dedicate more energy to solving the problems of Fulani herdsmen as “the protection of life and property of the citizens is more important than your war against corruption! The protection of lives of citizens is the most sacred responsibility of the state and your presidency. Your government has failed woefully in this regard. Mr. President, there is no greater corruption than the government looking the other way while the strong bullies kill the weak with impunity and pleasure.”
Hagher also said he was pained that the President ignored his earlier advice, in a private memorandum of July 30, 2016, where he warned him of the possibility of a horrendous genocide in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Southern Kaduna, and southern Adamawa State.
“I asked you to be proactive and stop the genocide that has been ongoing but which would burst out in the open and shock the world within 18 months. Your office replied my letter on September 28, 2016, and the reply was couriered to me in the United States, thanking me ‘immensely’ and giving me the assurances that the advice would be heeded,” he said.
He regretted that 17 months after the warning and prediction, the federal government did nothing to pre-empt or prevent the genocide and, therefore, asked Buhari to stand up to his constitutional responsibilities before another civil war breaks out.
In a related development, the Nasarawa State Government donated relief materials worth N50 million to displaced persons from Benue in the state’s border communities as a result of the attacks by suspected herdsmen.
Deputy Governor, Silas Agara, who announced the items for distribution in Lafia, explained that the materials were procured on the directive of Gov. Umaru Al-Makura for the IDPs in Awe and Keana local government areas of the state.
Agara said more than 15,000 persons, including women, children and the aged, were currently housed in camps in the area.
The deputy governor said the relief materials were to ameliorate the hardship being faced by the displaced persons.
Also, Senior Pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwua, Abuja, Brother Joshua lginla, vehemently condemned the Benue killings.
Iginla said during the  church’s  first Sunday service of 2018:  “The killers will not go unpunished. They are cursed; both the killers and their sponsors.”
An enraged lginla, in placing a curse on the killers and their sponsors, wondered why  Christian religious leaders were not speaking out to condemn the killings. He also wondered why Christian leaders do not speak up when evil ravages the country.
From Benue, Ortom’s Special Assistant on Herdsmen, Alhaji Shehu Tambaya, disclosed that herdsmen’s attacks were part of the focus of a meeting held by the state government, before the implementation of the anti-open grazing law.
He also disclosed that the state chairman and secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) were part of the committee, at the state level.
Tambaya debunked claims by MACBAN’s national coordinator, Garus Gololo, that the recent attacks in some Benue communities were as a result of the rustling of over 1,000 cows in Logo and Guma local government areas.
He said no member of MACBAN in the state, at any point, reported such loss of cattle to the state government, even as he urged the public to disregard Gololo’s claim.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) called for a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to deliberate on the killings in Benue State. The group, in an appeal dated January 6, 2018, signed by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, urged Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to use his leadership position to “urgently call and/or facilitate the holding of a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address the “persistent killings,” not just in Benue, but also other parts of Nigeria.
SERAP urged Al Hussein to “speak out strongly and condemn the killings and make an official visit to Nigeria with special rapporteurs, with relevant mandates to discuss the killings and concrete actions to end the killings and ultimately bring about significant improvements in the lives of farmers and their families as well as other citizens affected by violence across the country.”
Lending his voice to the herdsmen’s saga, managing director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Emmanuel Jime, challenged security agencies to fish out the people that carried out gruesome attacks on local communities in Benue State.
He suggested the use of intelligence and other precautionary measures to prevent future attacks on communities in the state.
Also, Middle Belt Youth Council (MBYC) and members of Benue Journalists’ Forum Nigeria (BJFN)  called on the President of the United States of America, Donald  Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to save indigenes of the state from extinction.
MBYC and BJFN expressed deep worry over the sustained unprovoked attacks on the helpless citizens of the state from herdsmen.‎
In separate statements in Abuja, the groups expressed their disappointed over the  inability of Nigerian security agencies to halt the calculated genocide against the people of the state.
‎In a statement, the MBYC, through its national youth leader,  Emma Zopmal, said: “The unabated killing of our people, in their communities is war declared on us and President Buhari is sleeping on duty.
“We should not make the mistake of thinking that government will stop this situation. ‎Every part of the country is defending its territory now. The Fulani terrorists will leave no part of the Middle Belt region untouched and, thereafter,  face the southern part of the country with war.”
On its part, ‎BJFN said it ‎had, on October 4,  2017, alerted the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris,  about the threats by herdsmen and their sponsors  to take over Benue valley by attacking it from six fronts, namely, Kwande, Guma, Konshisha, Vande-Ikyaa and Gwer respectively.

Leaders of Benue attackers in Abuja –Ortom

From Murphy Ganagana, Jos

Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, in this interview said the crises in the state was getting out of hand, but the federal government was yet to respond to passionate appeals made to it through the Interior minister, General Abdulrahman Dambazzau, (retd).
How pained are you with the recent happenings in your state?
Well, I am very sad; we are all mourning in Benue State. Killings, killings, killings and killings; it has continued even up to this morning, the 6th of January, 2018. People were killed in Logo Local Government Area. We have so far recovered 11 corpses. It is really unfortunate; the situation is really getting out of hand. The security in Benue State is doing their best and it is not that the perpetrators are not known; they are known, and we’ve been reporting them. They are coming from other parts of the country to attack us. But their headquarters and their leaders are in Abuja. And it’s not that they did not inform us; we were threatened and we reported this to the authorities, the security authorities of this country and nothing has been done.
What was the immediate cause of the recent attacks because the police said they are in the dark and were still investigating?
Well, I don’t know about them, but Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore had earlier threatened after I signed the prohibition of open grazing law and provision of ranching. They threatened that first, they would not accept the law, and they would do everything to stop the implementation. That they would go against it, and they will mobilise their members to fight and frustrate the implementation. We reported them, and they did not issue this threat once. They issued it several times through press conferences. They are on video, they are on audio; they were published in the papers, that they are going to attack the state; and we reported them. So, it is not that they are not known. The police are aware, the DSS are aware; the NSA is aware of this.
The Inspector General of Police referred to the attacks as communal crises. Would you subscribe to that view?
I think he was misquoted, and I called him. He told me that was not what he meant; that he never meant that it was communal clash because he is aware that Fulani people attacked. And the police in Benue State are already prosecuting those who were arrested. So, how can he say that?
There is popular feeling of a gang-up of federal institutions, including security agencies against the implementation of the anti-grazing law in your state. Are you considering some other measures to ensure implementation of the law if you do not get the cooperation of federal agencies?
As far as I am concerned, implementation of the law is ongoing and it’s going on well. So far, those who have violated the law are already in court.
Are you saying you are getting the cooperation of the federal authorities with regards to implementation of the law?
I am talking about Benue State here. I have the police, police is federal agency. Alongside with the livestock guards, people who violated the law have been apprehended, and 26 of them are already in court; they have been arraigned and remanded in prison custody. That is cooperation from the security agencies. But we are calling for the arrest of the president and secretary of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.
Your people are sad, hungry and angry. How much impact has the attacks and response of the federal government had on the popularity of the APC government in Benue State?
Well, we are yet to get positive response from the federal government to these incidents. President Muhammadu Buhari sent the minister of Interior when this incident occurred. He was here to commiserate with me and the people of Benue State, and we also made some passionate appeals to take back to the President. We’re yet to get a response and I believe that will come, though the President had directed that security should be intensified to stop those heinous acts. As at now, I have augmentation of military personnel who are in the state to give us back up and support, and I have additional policemen on ground. The DIG Operations was deployed in the state, and I hope with these, we would be able to contain further killings.
If the killings continue, how hopeful are you of being able to mobilise your people to vote for your party in the 2019 election?
Well, during a stakeholders meeting, I said I have withdrawn from all political activities and I don’t want to talk about anything party, voting. I can’t talk about voting in 2019 when my people are dying, whether at the federal level, or at the state level, or even my own election. I am not prepared to talk about it.
People feel President Buhari’s loud silence and show of complacency over the menace of Fulani herdsmen will eventually consume his presidency; that it would pull him down if he seeks re-election. Do you have such fears?
Let me tell you, I am not talking about politics now. Whether presidency or no presidency, governor or no governor; whether I am re-elected or not, that is not my concern. My concern now is how I will stop the killings that are going on because I cannot be politicking with dead people; I am not a dead man.
What is the way forward?
The way forward is to arrest the perpetrators of these acts. They cannot be walking free on the streets when they kill people. Impunity is a very bad sin that should not be allowed to prevail over this land. We must respect the laws of the land; that is the only thing that is holding us. Some people cannot be sacred cows and others will be killed and people who have committed these crimes would be allowed to go scot-free.
On my way to Makurdi, I saw a large number of refugees at Daudu, people who fled their communities in the wake of the latest attacks. Are you considering setting up refugee camps to cater for them?
I have already directed SEMA to establish about four camps to see what we can do at the level of the state government to support the people. Over 40, 000 people have been displaced and we’re still counting. Some fled as a result of fear, some were attacked; some escaped, and so on. That is the problem. Up till now (Saturday night), we are still counting the number of refugees.
Do the health institutions in Makurdi have adequate facilities to cater for those injured?
That is what we’re doing. The state government has taken over the responsibility of treating all those injured in the crisis.