- Bereaved families recount brutal murder of relations
- Residents flee in droves
- Churches organise special prayer session, fasting
These are trying times for residents of Katsina Ala, headquarters of Katsina Ala Local Government Area, and the adjoining communities in Benue State. They were plunged into deep sorrow and mourning last week when unknown gunmen unleashed terror on them, killing no fewer than 19 of their kinsmen. From one street of the local government to the other, loud wailings of men, women and children whose loved ones had been brutally killed by bloodthirsty gunmen pervaded the land and causing the people to live in perpetual fear.
Some of the bereaved family members who spoke with The Nation were inconsolable as they recounted how their relations were brutally murdered in cold blood. They regretted that their farmlands, which have been contributing immensely to the economy of the state that prides itself as the food basket of the nation, were fast becoming a graveyard for their loved ones.
A bereaved member of the community, who simply identified himself as Bar Ajon, was visibly shaking as he relived the callous murder of his brother.
He said: “My immediate brother was murdered in his house around 2.30 am by gunmen that have turned our land to a place where human beings are killed like rats on a daily basis.
“They had stormed his house in the dead of the night hoping to meet him at home.
“When they got to his house, they searched everywhere and ransacked where the wife was lying down with the hope of getting him but he was not there. He slept elsewhere that very night.
“After they left, somebody called him to inform him about the incident.
“Surprised by the development, he left where he was and started going home. Unfortunately for him, the hoodlums met him on the way and killed him.”
That was however not the only loss he suffered during the week many residents of the area have described as that of calamity. He also relived how his friend and his friend’s partner were murdered that same week.
“There was nothing concrete that one could hold on to as their reason for killing him and his friend,” he said. “He was supervising his building project when two young men approached, pretending as if they wanted to greet him.
“They stood almost side by side with one a step in front of the other. As he was trying to fathom what their mission was, the one in the front pulled out a pistol and shot him.
“Unfortunately, the shot missed him and killed the person beside him. Before the gunman could fire another shot, his colleague in crime, brought out his gun and shot my friend three times on the chest, killing him instantly.
“Immediately this happened, the bricklayers at the site left their tools and ran away. The killers also ran away on their motorcycle after achieving their purpose.”
He continued: “The following day, these same people attacked a couple and killed them. When they started running away, the people in the community ran after them. As the gunmen tried to escape, they didn’t know there was a bridge ahead of them. They ran into it and couldn’t move forward again.
“As the people were approaching, one of the gunmen put his hand in his pocket to take his pistol to shoot at the people. As he was struggling to remove the gun, he mistakenly pulled the trigger and shot himself in the leg.
“Sensing that danger was looming, his colleague abandoned him and wriggled his way out of the area. The people picked him and handed him over to the police.
“He has made a confessional statement and mentioned the names of some top people behind their unholy activities.”
Lamenting the spate of murder in the area, Hon. Terfa Atoza Ihindan, recounted how his father Rt. Hon. Atoza Ihindan, MFR and his political father, Mr. Iormanger Mouna and his driver were assassinated within 72 hours.
He said: “The late Iormanger, my political father, was murdered on Tuesday July 14 along with his driver while my dad, Rt. Hon. Atoza Ihindan, MFR was killed on July 17. The killer of my father was arrested the following day after killing a couple.
“My father was on his plot of land where he had gone to inspect work on the perimeter fencing project opposite the Federal Low Cost Housing Estate when the incident occurred. He was there in company with his police orderly, Mr. Iliya, who has not been arrested till now or asked to give a statement.
“Four other people Mzughulga Ugba, D. D. Vanger , Hon. Peter Ukaa and Aondongu Butu were also with him. Before he was killed, my father had sensed danger because seven of his kinsmen had earlier been murdered.
“I condemn the dastardly act and call on all well meaning citizens of this country to join me in doing so, particularly because my father did not do anything to warrant being assassinated.
“I am particularly distressed about the political assassinations in Nigeria. The killing of people because of political differences is reprehensible and does not help our efforts to build democracy in this country.
“Human life is sacred and those that deprive other humans of their life should be held to account for their crimes. I call on you to assist me to bring the killers of my father to book and to be vigilant so that together we can put away this sad, horrendous activity from our national life.”
Hir Nyamkeng, another bereaved person, was yet to overcome the shock of his brother’s death when The Nation sought his comment. Still visibly in shock, he eventually managed to speak.
He said: “My brother and his friend were among the people that the hoodlums murdered. That week will remain indelible in our memory. They met his friend and asked him to lead them to his house. When they got there, they shot both of them dead.
“The wicked ones didn’t allow him to fulfill his dreams in life. All the good plans he had for the family and the community at large have all been wasted. We have concluded plans to bury him on July 29.
“It is unfortunate that instead of going to put seeds in our land which produces good harvests, it is our illustrious sons and daughters, brothers and sisters that we are digging the land to bury. It is irreprehensible.”
Masterminds’ motive shrouded in controversy
Controversy is trailing the motive of the masterminds of the killings. While some of the people believe that they were politically motivated assassinations, others chose to be indifferent. Those who believe that the killings were politically motivated alleged that two leading members of the community were the sponsors of the heinous crimes.
Speaking specifically about his father’s murder, Hon. Terfa said the incident was purely a case of political assassination, stating that they knew the people responsible for the dastardly act.
He said: “The reasons for suspecting them have been given to the Inspector General of Police in a petition I submitted on July 21, 2015. One of the suspected persons was part of the last administration and the new one.
“He had always threatened to deal with my father and all of us his children because he believed that my father was responsible for his sack by the administration of former Governor Gabriel Suswan.
“After his announcement as a key player in the present government, his friends held a party for him. He openly boasted that he would deal with us.
“He eventually carried out his threat last week. In spite of this, he has not given up. He is still bent on killing me and my siblings for no just cause.
“As I speak now, I am his principal target. His killer squad accosted my brother’s car last week using a Hilux van. Fortunately, my brother was not the one driving the car. It was driven by one of his friends who was very observant and saw the van trailing him for a very long time.
“At a point, he drove into a popular market. After they left, he drove out again, but before he knew it, the van followed him again. He had to abandon the vehicle and ran for his dear life.”
Terfa argued that the killings that took place before his father was killed were mere smokescreens. “They were only meant to divert attention and make it appear as if it was random killing. We have been forced to flee our land of birth by certain people who would not wait a minute longer to kill us if we should stay back at home. My late father’s wives are in the house mourning his untimely exit. They have not stepped out of the house since then.
“The wicked ones have brought untold grief to our peaceful and happy home.”
Former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, an indigene of the state, opined that the killings were political, pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to come to the aid of the community before it would snowball into another form of terrorism.
He also fingered the same people that Hon Terfa mentioned as the brains behind the killings.
“The killings in Benue State, particularly in Tiv speaking area of the state, are matters of grave concern to all peace loving people of the state,” Tsav said. “Within a month, so many people have been killed in the area.
“Ironically some top security people in the state are from that axis and cannot stop these senseless atrocities and killings. Could they be privy to such killings? Is history repeating itself?
“One of these top guys was at the helm of security affairs some years ago when many youths who were opposed to the then government were killed atrociously in cold blood in Kwande and Tarkaa Local Government Areas of the state. The other one was arrested with arms in Katsina Ala in 2011 by the military when he was working with the former government.
“A top placed person within the government circle has admitted publicly to my hearing and to the hearing of two bishops, traditional rulers and officials of Mzou U Tiv that he was in charge of the militia in the state.
“This was how Boko Haram started and metamorphosed into a regional terrorist organization, which has now destroyed many innocent lives and property. We have elders in Tivland but none is willing to talk for fear of attack.
“Our politicians who established, trained and armed these murderers are also not talking. The police seem to be hands in glove with politicians and seem to have been compromised.
“I passionately plead with President Muhammadu Buhari and IGP Solomon Arase to rescue Tiv people from extinction arising from politics of intolerance and godlessness.”
A member of the community who gave his name as Barrister Henda said they are trying to find out the cause of the killings. “This notwithstanding, somebody from the embattled community is being suspected for the action. The people are living in palpable fear as I speak with you now. They don’t even talk about it because if you talk about it before going to bed, you may not wake up alive the next day.”
“The late Ihindan and I were to attend a meeting on the fateful day that he was murdered. We had agreed to meet at 12 noon but they murdered him before then. That is the situation here.
Condemning the killings, Rev. Gabriel Oragbe, the pastor in charge of Universal Reformed Christian Church, said: “As a Christian, it would be very difficult to say why people are being killed here every day. I am really surprised that things are happening this way. It is strange, very strange to all of us. It is difficult for me to categorically state that it is political assassination or handiwork of robbers.”
For Hon. Ugba Uye, the killings were not done by herdsmen as some people were insinuating but by hired assassins. “They were carried out by hired assassins. It is very strange in our land,” he said..
Residents flee communities
Findings showed that many residents of the embattled communities have started leaving for neigbouring towns out of fear.
Hon Ugba said: “The residents have been fleeing the area because they are scared that they could be the next victim. Many people have run to Makurdi while some ran to places like Abuja. So far, the police, from what I heard, have apprehended 17 suspects. I will therefore advise our people to be more vigilant and should always report any suspicious movement to the police.”
His observation was also shared by Rev Oragbe, who lamented that the development has crippled economic activities.
Oragbe said: “To be sincere with you, the development has crippled economic activities and social life in the area because people are afraid to move about freely. People hardly go outside their localities these days for fear of being killed. We are not safe again and that is why we are calling on the state and Federal Government to come to our aid.
“What we as men of God are doing is to seek the face of God concerning the weird development. The pastors in the area would be meeting today (Tuesday) to pray for an end to come to this in our land.
Some members of the community who are currently seeking cover outside the communities, in a chat with The Nation, alleged that they ran away from the community because their names were already included on the list of the next batch of people to be murdered.
Hon Alfred, a former Senior Special Adviser on Administration to the former governor is one of these people.
Asked how he knew that he had been penciled among the next batch of people to be murdered, he said: “The man in question has confronted me openly and privately, and when he does that, it means that one’s life is in danger. If I didn’t run away from his reach, I would have been a dead man by now.
“It would surprise you that the person we are talking about is from the same community with me and we served together in the last administration. He is the type that would stop at nothing to get whatever he wants.
“On one occasion, he made false allegations against me to the governor, but when the governor saw through the plot, he threw out his allegations. He was always leaving his duties to engage in politicking.”
He denied that the killings were reprisal attacks, saying: “The killings are not reprisal attacks. He has been the one going after innocent people that he considers as a threat to his ambitions. About 19 people were killed last week by the gunmen. Fifteen people were killed in Katsina Ala, two in Ukum, and another two at Kwamde. A baby and her mother were murdered in one of the killings. They were carrying out the killings randomly so that if people like us had been murdered, it would be seen as one of the killings.”
“We want peace to return to all the troubled communities and the state at large. We also want justice to be done to serve as deterrent to others and at the same time propitiate the people whose breadwinners, mothers, brothers and sisters have been callously murdered.”
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Benue State Police Command, Austine Ezeala, said the command was on top of the situation as many suspects had been arrested with arms and ammunition and were undergoing interrogation .
He appealed to people to give the police useful information to enable them track the movement of criminals, adding: “The police are doing everything possible to curtail the crime wave. We urge the people to go about their normal business without fears.”
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