No sooner did Nigeria’s presidential election take place on February 23 than ethnic strife and bloodshed started afresh, in some parts of the country. There had seemed to be an unofficial ceasefire during the electioneering; and there was remarkable calm in most of the hotspots. This resurgence of bloody violence and killings, has moved some concerned stakeholders to call on the government to take another look at the crisis.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), after a plenary meeting in Abuja recently, bemoaned the seeming hasty return to the killing fields. In a communiqué emanating from the meeting, the CBCN notes: “We have received with deep sorrow, the tragic news of the resurgence of further horrific killings in some parts of Kaduna State, Taraba, Benue, Kogi, Edo, Rivers, Zamfara, Adamawa and other states.
“Against the backdrop of the violence and bloodshed that characterized the last elections, we are pained that the culture of death is becoming embedded in our daily lives.
“This persistent devaluation of human lives and property poses an existential threat to our personal survival and that of our nation. How can government continue to appear helpless in the face of such shameful tragedy?”
It is noteworthy that the Catholic clergy had mentioned the spate of violence and killings that characterized the recently concluded elections. The body also noted that cult-related deaths and kidnappings have been rife. For instance, a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Clement Rapuluchukwu Ugwu was abducted at gunpoint from his parish, St. Mark Catholic Church, Obinofia Ndiuno in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, last week. His body was dumped near his house a week later.
Currently, of greater worry, however, is the rise in ethnic tensions in Southern Kaduna State and the farmers-herders conflicts in Benue and some states of north central Nigeria. For instance, just last Tuesday, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen reportedly invaded Tse-Uoreleyev community in Guma LGA of Benue State, killing 10 and injuring many. The state, which had been the scene of some of the most vicious killings in the last three years, also enjoyed some respite during the electioneering. But alas, it seems the combatants are returning to the trenches once again.
The most turbulent zone currently must be Birnin Gwari and now Kajuru LGAs of Kaduna State. While Birnin Gwari was battlefield and place of death last year, action may have shifted to Kajuru today. There must have been over half a dozen conflicts in the last couple of months with accusations of attacks and reprisals from warring groups.
During a protest at the Unity Fountain in Abuja last week, the coordinator, Coalition Against Kajuru Killings, Rev. Fr. Williams Kaura Abba, had bemoaned the tragedy that is Kajuru. According to Abba, the death toll in Kajuru had surpassed 130 with no fewer than 10,000 persons displaced.
He says: “It is our firm belief that powerful retrogressive forces are funding and supporting these well-coordinated militia who came in and strike at our sleepy and peaceful communities and retreat without consequences.”
He urged that as a matter of urgency, government deploy more security forces into these areas, including persistent aerial surveillance to track the terrorists and end the carnage. His group also pleaded with agencies of government to intervene promptly in the ensuing humanitarian crisis arising from about 10,000 displaced persons. There is urgent need for health care support for the wounded; and food and shelter for the displaced.
In the final analysis, there is a need for closure in this cycle of killings. We urge the federal and state governments as well as all relevant stakeholders to initiate a process of reconciliation of the striving parties. Some commentators have tried to connect the killing of Christians in Nigeria to the shooting of Muslims in New Zealand, tenuous as it may seem. However, this would appear neither here nor there; for there is no concrete proof that the killings have religious root, though there are ample victims on both sides of the religious divide.
Still, we urge President Muhammadu Buhari to seize the opportunity of his electoral victory to embark on a broad-based healing and reconciliation effort of various groups of aggrieved Nigerians. Reaching out, visits and infectious show of goodwill will go a long way in fostering peace across the land.
But also, the troubled local communities, as well as other extended stakeholders, including the Church, the Mosque and the media, must also rethink their slanted approaches to these recurring killings.
Foremost, the local communities must take direct responsibility for their own peace, security and stability. The blind pursuit of ancient feuds is only underscoring the futility of the Mosaic Law: an eye for an eye eventually leaves everyone blind. No matter how dire the grievances, leaders on both sides of the divide must demonstrate courage; and push dialogue founded on justice and fair play. That would set up a template for the embedment of future peace and prosperity. That template would also make it easier for the government to secure the peace, since the feuding parties would have dialogued and abandoned their old mutually self-destruct ways.
The religious orders too must stop mistaking their intervention on the side of their own side of the crisis, as intervention for justice. Again, leaders on both sides should come together, critically examine the problems and nudge their adherents toward peace founded on justice. On the media side, they should stop going hysteric over the killings on one side but keeping mute over massacres on the other. This lack of balance in reportage appears also to drive reprisal attacks, and thus perpetuate the cycle of killings.
Back to the present, the recent release of N27.4 billion by the Federal Executive Council for victims of these crises and flooding is a step in the right direction. A bit of presidential gestures, including visiting hotspots, would also help a great deal.