By Ed Onmata Emmanuel
Mr. President,
With a heavy heart, I write you this SOS letter. It’s obvious that you are the only person who could stop the ongoing nonsensical killing of Agatu and Tiv people by insurgents who use Fulani herdsmen as cannon folder.
I write this because I know you as an upright man who rode on honesty and rule of law to power. You demonstrated this in your inaugural speech where you assured Nigerians of your impartial leadership by saying, “I am for everybody; I am for nobody.” This means, though a Fulani man birth, you will never permit injustices perpetrated by arsonists posing as your tribesmen against the poor and helpless Nigerians including Tiv and Agatu people in Benue State. As a result, your timely intervention in the perennial killing of these hapless people will further correct the ills.
I am not unaware of the debate on Federal Grazing Reserve clandestinely going on in Nigeria. We are equally aware that those who will be dispossessed of their fertile land are the poor and voiceless ones. This, the entire Agatu people in Agatu Local Government Area and some Tiv people at the riverside of Gwer West Local Government Area, fall squarely in place. But land acquisition by genocide is an atrocity not only against humanity but God. To this end, the world rises up against this kind of condemnable act. As a man of humane characteristic, please rise against this mindless killing, which started a couple of years ago.
It all started during the past administration alongside Boko Haram insurgency. They came in the guise of Fulani herdsmen and attacked some of the villages in Agatu and Gwer West Local Government Areas of Benue State. That time they claimed that their action was a reprisal for cattle rustling. After their first and second successful campaigns, they continued until all the Agatu riverine villages and towns were overthrown due to massive killing and burning down of houses. The whole of Agatu was shocked because these were not the herdsmen that had stayed peacefully with them over the years. Moreover, the insurgents are palpable strangers who were never known to have grazed anywhere in Agatu land.
As I’m writing this SOS, without any cause whatsoever, they have started attacking the central Agatu towns and villages closer to the Council Headquarters. In fact, between Monday, 22/02/2016 and Tuesday 23/02/2016, no fewer than 200 people were murdered in cold blood just in two villages, Okokolo and Akuh Agatu. While Okokolo was overthrown on Monday, Akuh was taken on Tuesday.
Mr. President, the impunity with which they attack, the kind of weapons used and the confidence that no law enforcement agent is capable of fighting them, gives the clear indication that these are not the herdsmen we knew. Their invasions, which usually start in the wee hours of the day always record a massive death of men, women and children. Unfortunately, whenever they are attacking the people, no law enforcement agent come to the rescue even when they are called upon. Frankly speaking, this is casting dust on the sincerity of the state government’s amnesty program as well as the peace talk between the farmers and the insurgents masquerading as herdsmen.
We all know that these fighters are not herdsmen but Boko Haram insurgents who want to forcefully create a caliphate by taking over the entire Agatu Local Government and part of Gwer West since their attempt in the North-east has become a mission impossible. This is totally unacceptable in a civilized age as ours, and it’s against the UN charter, which Nigeria is a member.
Mr. President, it’s obvious that God brought you to deliver Nigeria and Nigerians from any form of oppression. Consequently, He will not be happy if you look on until Agatu and some Tiv people are completely dispossessed of their lands. I stress this, Mr. President because every local and state leaders, as well as security agents, have failed Agatu and Gwer West people. Their eyes are only on you. Please come to their rescue before Agatu local government is wiped out from Nigerian map.
May God bless you as you give hope to the hopeless.
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