Ignore The Federal Government And Use The Constitutional Measures Within Your Powers To Bring Fulani Terrorism Under Control - Benue Blogger Mrs. Akioyamen tells Gov. Ortom
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Your Excellency,
The Executive Governor,
Benue State.
Dear Sir,
Fulani Herdsmen Terrorism - The Way Forward
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I feel sorry that you have to visit yet another scene of the needless murder of our people by Fulani Terrorist herdsmen. It must be repetitively gruelling and heartrending to you by now. It was only a year ago, that the seminal event in Fulani herdsmen terrorism occurred in Agatu in which 500 of your constituents were killed in their sleep, about 8 communities levelled to the ground and their lives destroyed. Since then, we have had other attacks in various parts of the state resulting in more deaths. All of these are still raw and etched into the frontal lobes of our brain. Please accept my sympathies.
However, one constant in these attacks is the near absence of will on the part of the Federal Government to bring this terrorism to its knees with the same ferocity with which it is pursuing Boko Haram in the far North. Instead, what we get, is excuses. If the Federal government is not insinuating that the herdsmen terrorists are foreigners and not Nigerians, it is trying to set aside monies in its budget, (N940 Million at the last count) to establish grazing reserves for the alien Fulani marauders to cure the mischief of what it termed 'Herdsmen/Farmers Clashes' or import sweet Brazilian grass for the self-same alien invaders.
Never once had the federal government ever given a thought or crafted a policy of resettlement, rehabilitation and recompense for the victims of such attack even though they are citizens of Nigeria. It is as if the Federal Government of Nigeria cares more about aliens than the citizens which the head of that government sworn to defend or protect from internal or external foes. It is even more painful that the man who is saddled with the policy of establishing Grazing Reserves for the alien Fulani is our own brother Chief Audu Ogbe. One would have thought he would know to broach the issue of compensation for the victims in the hallowed hall of power in Abuja. But this is not to be.
As it is now, the People and Government of Benue is left with the burden of not only protecting its residents but also forking out money from its near-empty treasury to resettle, rehabilitate and compensate the victims of what is turning out to be carefully planned genocidal attacks against the people of Benue. And in this, your government has so far been unable to effectuate your plans because the state is broke.
In Agatu, for example, in a place where about N 2 Billion Naira is required to compensate, resettle and rehabilitate the victims, your government has only been able to make a payment of N30 million to Agatu, with N10 million out of that sum coming from a man most Benue people regards as a facilitator (whether wrong or right) of the Fulani onslaught. The paltriness of this sum is not because you do not have the desire to settle the displaced victims of these attacks, it is because you lack the resources to do so. This is where the Federal Government should have stepped in to fill the gaps as it is doing for the 'alien' Fulani marauders.
Even though I find your call for the Federal Government to step up to the plate, after the attack on Mbalagh in Buruku that resulted in the murder of 6 members of the community, refreshing, however, like others before, it is likely to go unheeded. It should be clear to you by now that the Federal Government do not care about the victims of the Fulani herdsmen terrorist attacks, for doing so will buck its standard track of not acknowledging the existence of the Fulani Terrorism despite overwhelming evidence and in spite of its unenviable position as the second most deadly terrorist organization in the world after Boko Haram.
You should ignore the Federal Government and use the constitutional measures within your powers to bring this Fulani Terrorism under control at least in Benue.
It is a good thing that you have before the State House Of Assembly, a Bill to prohibit open grazing and for the establishment of Ranching in Benue State.Before this bill is passed you need to articulate clearly how you are going to solve the immediate problem of Fulani Grazing that, more often than not, results in killings. The people has to be told that Ranches do not grow overnight. They should be alerted to the fact, that you may need to use the instruments of state to acquire lands; that need to be enclosed; facilities put therein, and rented out to the herdsmen for a fee (if this is the model we want to implement). All of this may take all of two to three years to complete.
You need also to let the people know as clearly as possible, the sacrifices you need them to undertake under the Bill. It must be made clear that to solve the immediate problem of Fulani terrorism, the Ranching Bill in and of itself without more, will not be able to achieve this and therefore, that you crave from them, some wiggle room to be able to designate certain lands, in the interim until ranches kick in, as grazing area for the Fulani. For if you do not do this and quickly too, you will continue to encounter a revolt from the people like it happened in Agatu when the Ad'apati Island was purported to have been ceded to the Fulani. You can't blame the people for this because of the bad blood the Fulani terrorism has generated. They need to understand clearly what you want to do and why you are doing it. They need to be carried along every step of the way otherwise, that bill before the House of Assembly will be doomed to failure.
Another thing your excellency can do very quickly is to get the Benue House of Assembly to amend the Penal Code Law of Benue and make the possession and control of arms and ammunition by Fulani herdsmen, a terrorist offence with a very tough penalty. You have, through the office of the Attorney General, the prosecutorial power to prosecute anyone suspected of having committed this offence.
You also have the power to strengthen the Vigilante or create a special Corp (much like the Sharia Police in the Far North) to arrest anyone who is in breach of the amendment to the Penal Code and when the Prohibition of Open Grazing and Establishment of Ranches is passed, to enforce it when it kicks in. You also control some prisons. You do not require the Federal Government help to succeed in this.
This will achieve two things for you. It will display your willingness to take on this Fulani scourge head on and thus win the trust of the people. Second, it will send a message to the marauders that it is not business as usual in Benue so as to make them have second thoughts about brazenly carrying out their attacks in this state.
I hold firmly to the view that if anyone is to solve this crisis sir it is you. I believe in your capability and in your expertise to do this.You have my highest esteem and regard.
Your friend
Akioyamen Josephine
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