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Tag: Mambilla

  • $6b Mambilla project: Appeal Court stays order seeking removal of firm owner from wanted list

    $6b Mambilla project: Appeal Court stays order seeking removal of firm owner from wanted list

    • EFCC’s charge amendment an overreach, Agunloye tells court

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has stayed the execution of the September 23 judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to, among others, delete the name of a company chief from its list of wanted persons for criminal allegations associated with the $6 billion Mambilla hydropower project contract.

    The name of the promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, Leno Adesanya, had been included in the list of wanted persons the EFCC declared in connection with the project.

    In a unanimous ruling yesterday, a three-member panel of the appellate court upheld the argument by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) that irreparable damage would occur if the judgment was executed before the determination of a pending appeal that queried the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to hear the suit on which the judgment was given.

    In the lead ruling, Justice Joseph Oyewole held that the motion for stay of execution the AGF filed was not an abuse of process, as Adesanya and his firm claimed.

    Justice Oyewole also held that the balance of convenience was in favour of granting the relief sought in the motion on notice for stay of execution, which the AGF filed.

    He issued an order staying the execution of the September 23 judgment, which Justice Inyang Ekwo delivered, and its accompanying orders, pending the determination of the pending appeal the AGF filed against the judgment.

    Justice Ekwo had delivered the September 23 judgment on a fundamental rights enforcement suit which Adesanya and his firm filed against the EFCC, the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel, the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

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    Justice Ekwo agreed with Adesanya’s lawyer, M. S. Diri (SAN), that since the Ministry of Power had contested the claims of the plaintiffs and had counter-claimed against them (Sunrise’s claims) at the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration, the sanctity of the arbitral proceedings must be respected and protected.

    The judge said the court was concerned with safeguarding the integrity of the arbitral proceedings currently ongoing between the parties, based on the United Nations Conventions on International Dispute Resolutions, which Nigeria is a signatory to and has also domesticated.

    He averred that the Ministry of Power must not be seen as a territory where international commercial transactions are unsafe and where municipal laws and agencies could be used against investors in case of disputes.

    Justice Ekwo recalled that Sunrise instituted fresh arbitral proceedings against the Federal Government of Nigeria, which are ongoing.

    The judge, acknowledging that the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution were not absolute, held that such assertion could not serve as a defence against the violations of such rights in manners that contradicted constitutional provisions.

    Justice Ekwo held that there was no valid defence from the EFCC to justify its publication of Adesanya’s name and photograph a “wanted person” on its website.

    He held that the EFCC was not legally entitled to investigate, resolve or prosecute the contractual dispute between Sunrise and the Ministry of Power and the Federal Government, which is pending before the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in Paris, France, under ICC Case reference number: 26260/SPN/AB/CPB.

    Justice Ekwo issued an order “quashing, setting aside, and prohibiting the publication of the first plaintiff (Adesanya) as a wanted person or threatening to prosecute the plaintiffs by the EFCC over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, pending the determination of the contractual dispute between the second plaintiff and the second and third defendants, which is pending before the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in Paris, under ICC Case reference number: 26260/SPN/AB/CPB, where the second and third defendants have joined issues”.

    He also issued an order “of mandatory injunction is hereby made directing and compelling the EFCC, whether by itself or through its officers, agents, servants, or any other means, to immediately take down, delete, and remove the name and photograph of the first plaintiff as a ‘wanted person’ from its website: https://www.efcc.gov.ng and all other social media platforms and notice boards; and to remove all other negative content concerning or relating to the first plaintiff in connection with any criminal allegations”.

    Adesanya and his firm had claimed that they were being witch-hunted following the Federal Government’s failure to comply with the contractual agreement on the Mambilla project and their institution of an arbitral proceeding against the country.

    They said despite the pendency of arbitral proceeding, the Federal Government and its security agencies, including the EFCC, had sought to criminalise and scandalise the Mambilla Project in a bid to evade their legal contractual obligations.

  • Mambilla

    Mambilla

    In the last few months, Mambilla has been in the news. The news isn’t a true representation of the Mambilla I visited some years back; it is a representation that stinks, it is about a corruption trial over a messed up federal project.

    Mambilla is more than what we now hear in the news. Mambilla is one of Nigeria’s many unexplored gold. Mambilla is uncut diamond, a jewel in the raw. Even with its glooming buildings, unvarnished walls, broken fences and hectares upon hectares of wasting land, the goodness in Mambilla is discernible.

    Mambilla Plateau sits pretty in the committee of the unfortunate. This is a land that should be swimming in dollars from all over the world, it should be a place where the high and the mighty all over the world die to visit and many should be willing to see Mambilla Plateau and die!

    Mambilla, which borders Cameroun, has the capacity to spring surprises— if only the right investment is made. Its weather is akin to what you have in Europe. The ‘hottest’ it ever gets is 20-degree centigrade. Here people wear winter jackets all the time and their heads are covered with head warmers. Gloves are not uncommon to keep the cold away. Apples, tea, and any kind of fruits, including those believed to be exclusive to European soils, grow on its fertile soils. They hardly experience sunshine. Fridges are not necessities. Drinks chill anywhere you put them. All thanks to their land being 1,840 metres above sea level— the highest point in Nigeria.

    It is no less than six hours by road from Jalingo, the Taraba State capital. It was no fun until I was reminded that it used to take three days. The terrain is difficult and for the road to be constructed, engineering wizardry had to be applied.

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    If not for a 1963 referendum, it would have been in Cameroun. The people chose Nigeria after the then Premier of the Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello (the Sardauna of Sokoto), convinced them to stick with Nigeria. Their local government is known as Sardauna in honour of the man who made them see the goodness in Nigeria. But have they much to show for it?

    In 1991 when Ibrahim Babangida was military president, the people were enraged and one day chased away Nigerian policemen and declared the area a United Nations territory. They hoisted a UN flag. This made Babangida gift them the road which turned the journey from Jalingo to six hours instead of three days.

    During my trip, I found out that the Mambilla Plateau had been partitioned by influential Nigerians, especially those who were in the military. I was told acres of land were acquired by these goons in anticipation of the Plateau taking its pride of place.

    The people I met felt more affinity with Cameroun, where many had relatives. They crossed the border easily. Cameroonian music, television stations, and radio stations are popular with them.

    Photographers and cinematographers will jump for joy at the ending rolling green hills of the Plateau.

    The road to the Plateau is not one where you speed; it is so curvy a speeding car can end up in the many deep gorges around it. Rocks, mountains and highlands had to be drilled or quarried before Babangida could gift them the road that shortened the distance from Jalingo to six hours instead of the three days.

    Like Mambilla Plateau and its neglected gifts of nature, Nigeria seems to be a grave of potential money-spinners. We have forest reserves, waterfalls, dams and other scenic beauties all over the country, but we carry on as though we are bereft of how to make them cough out money like they do overseas. We run abroad for everything that we have but have failed to make the best of.

    A hydro-electric project initiated by the military remains unrealised some two decades later. Mrs. Yorte Sorandi was 18 years in 1980 when the project was conceived.

    “I was only 18 years then. With my small body, I was not married yet. I watched as my father assisted the white men who put the instrument. They said they were going to construct for us a hydropower dam.

    “Today, I am 58, and no block has been laid, no iron has been cast. When will they start the project?” she asked The Nation some years ago.

    Dahiru Abdulkadric, whose father was employed to lo okafter an instrument on the site, sees it as a dream.

    He said: “This Mambilla dam project has been to me like a dream. My father used to talk about it. Now he has gone and I am doing his job.

    “They told us they are coming to compensate and move us to new places. We have waited and become tired. But we are ready if the government is sincere and serious about the project.”

    When President Muhammadu Buhari was in the state capital for his campaign rally on January 28, 2015, he said the previous governments were only doing politics with the Mambilla hydropower project.

    He said: “If I become president, I will revive and complete the Mambilla hydropower dam, which has been moribund,” he said.

    On August 30, 2017, Buhari awarded the contract for the engineering work on the Mambilla dam, through a joint venture with a Chinese civil engineering company for $5.792 billion (N2 trillion) to be partly funded by China Export-Import (EXIM) Bank as a concessionary loan. However, EXIM, after its survey, reduced to $3 billion.

    My final take: We need to explore the unexplored, we need to tap the untapped, we need to milk the ‘unmilked’ and we need to do everything possible to make Nigeria equal if not better than the nations that catch our people’s fancies.

  • Ex-minister to appeal ruling in $6b Mambilla case

    Ex-minister to appeal ruling in $6b Mambilla case

    Former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, is set to appeal the ruling of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, which dismissed his preliminary objection challenging the powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute him.

    The court ruled that the commission has the power to investigate and prosecute the alleged offences.

    Agunloye’s lawyers argued that the ruling departs from the decision of the Supreme Court in FRN v. Nwobike, where similar issues have been decided.

    EFCC is prosecuting Agunloye over a $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract.

    The anti-graft agency alleged that it traced some suspicious payments made by Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd to Agunloye’s accounts.

    Agunloye was arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on fraudulent award of a contract and official corruption.

    In a preliminary objection dated February 6, Agunloye argued the EFCC lackd the powers to prosecute him because the offences do not border on financial crime.

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    He noted that the alleged offences bother on the alleged award of contract without budgetary provision, approval and cash backing; and alleged disobedience of presidential directives.

    “These allegations do not constitute financial crimes, which can be lawfully investigated and prosecuted by the EFCC, pursuant to its powers under Sections 6, 7 and 46 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act and in consonance with the Supreme Court’s decision in  Nwobike v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2022) 6  NWLR (Pt. 1826) 293,” he argued.

    He added: “It will be most unjust and unfair to subject me to criminal trial or prosecution, before determining whether the investigating and prosecuting body has the requisite statutory powers to so do.”

    The former minister sought an order “prohibiting the EFCC, whether by itself or any officer within its employ, from prosecuting or further prosecuting the instant charge [Charge No. FCT/ABJ/CR/617/2023] against the defendant, for lack of both investigative and prosecutorial powers…”

  • End hydropower project dispute, Emir urges Fed Govt

    End hydropower project dispute, Emir urges Fed Govt

    The Emir of Mambilla, Dr Shehu Baju II, has urged the Federal Government to explore amicable means to resolve the dispute over the Mambilla Hydro Power project.

    He believes it will enable the country to enjoy the immense benefits of the 3,050 MW hydroelectric power-generating project.

    In a letter to President Bola Tinubu, Dr Baju, the President of Sardauna Traditional Council, Taraba State, expressed concern over the lingering dispute, which he said was hindering the project.

    He noted that the project has also stalled the lighting up of the Mambilla Plateau which has tremendous tourism and agricultural potential.

    The letter dated December 18 read: “We call on you Mr. President to cast your lenses on the Mambilla Hydro Project which is capable of generating over 50, 000 skilled jobs with economic/technical spillovers and 3.500 MWS of electricity in the Northeast region and Nigeria as a whole.

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    “Your Excellency, we also call on your good office to enforce amicable resolution between the contractors and any ongoing dispute which has stalled this project.

    “Sunrise Powers Transmission for one have visited us numerous times, acquainted themselves with our people and accepted by us.

    “The Chairperson of Sunrise, Mr. Leno Adesanya, has also been recently conferred with a Traditional Title ‘Tauraru of Mambilla’ (Star and Light) for his effort over the years and support to the kingdom towards actualizing this viable project.

    “We have followed keenly as events unfold and seek your intervention towards an amicable solution to enable the progress and realisation of this viable project.

    “We ask Mr. President that you support both the local content and international partners in ensuring a successful start and completion of this viable project aimed towards local, regional and national development.”

    Two notable Senior lawyers, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, had also advised the Federal Government to resolve the dispute which is currently in arbitration.

  • Mambilla Power Project: Agunloye faults Obasanjo’s claims of mismanagement

    Mambilla Power Project: Agunloye faults Obasanjo’s claims of mismanagement

    Former minister of power and steel, Olu Agunloye, has refuted claims by former president Olusegun Obasanjo that he mismanaged the Mambilla Power Project.

    Agunloye described the claims as ‘baseless, false, and malicious.

    The erstwhile minister also provided ample evidence to nullify claims made by Obasanjo.

    He clarified the nature of the initial contract for the Mambilla Power Project, which was awarded as a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract in May 2003 under his watch.

    According to him under this model, the contractor, Messrs Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (Sunrise), was responsible for sourcing funds and executing the project with its own funds. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) was not obliged to pay any amount to Sunrise.

    Agunloye explained that the investment required for the firm to construct the Mambilla hydroelectric project up to completion was estimated at a maximum of $6 billion by four Ministers of Power and former President Obasanjo before his tenure as Minister of Power.

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    He noted that claims by Obasanjo that he awarded a $6 billion contract (N800 billion in 2003) to Sunrise was ‘inaccurate and misleading’.

    Agunloye also stated that for 20 years, he was never questioned or interrogated about issuing any unauthorised Mambilla contract by any Nigerian President, including  Obasanjo, adding that this was because they all knew that he did nothing wrong.

    He queried the change of contract model for the Mambilla Power Project after his tenure.  Obasanjo had  decided to split the Mambilla Hydropower Project into smaller components.

    Agunloye’s rebuttal was contained in a comprehensive 53 paragraph, 14-page statement, supported with 15 attachments in an 82-page document as an affidavit to the courts in Nigeria and France. The same was sent  to  Obasanjo through his legal team.

    He said: “On 28 May 2007, a day before handing over power to President Umaru   Yar’Adua, Obasanjo had changed the terms of the Mambilla project from Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT), which would not have required any investment from the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to a fully funded FGN  EPC contract.”

  • NiMet predicts cloudy skies, rain showers on Wednesday

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy weather conditions over the central states of the country on Wednesday morning with chances of localised rain showers over Abuja, Minna, Bida, Ilorin, Lokoja, Mambilla and Jalingo axis.

    NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Tuesday also predicted day and night temperatures in the range of 33 to 41 and 25 to 28 degrees Celsius respectively.

    It added that places like Yola, Jos, Kaduna and Makurdi axis were expected to be under the influence of localised thunderstorms during afternoon and evening hours.

    The agency predicted that the southern States would experience cloudy conditions with chances of isolated thunderstorms over Ogoja, Ikom, Obudu and environs in the morning hours.

    It also predicted isolated thunderstorms over the southwest and coastal axis during the afternoon and evening hours with day and night temperatures of 32 to 35 and 21 to 26 degrees Celsius respectively.

    According to NiMet, Northern States will experience partly cloudy to cloudy conditions in the morning hours with chances of localised thunderstorm over Maiduguri and Kebbi axis.

    “Northern States are expected to have day and night temperatures in the range of 43 to 43 and 26 to 30 degrees Celsius respectively.

    “With moisture as far as the extreme north, thunderstorms are probable across the country within the next 24 hours,” NiMet predicts.

    NAN

     

  • NSCDC deploys 50 motorcycles for patrols in Taraba

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp ( NSCDC ), has deployed 50 motorcycles to its Taraba Command to enhance patrol in flash points of the state.
    The State NSCDC Commandant, Alhaji Kamilu Isah, disclosed this in Jalingo in an interview with the News men.

    He said the motorcycles would assist the command in tackling the recurring violence in Takum, Mambilla and Lau areas.

    “Adequate arrangements have been made for fuelling and maintenance of the motorcycles which will encourage my men to tackle criminality in difficult terrains.

    “Security equipment including bullet proof vests, boots, helmets, shocking batons were also provided to the command.

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    “Other gadgets that will not be disclosed for security reasons were also provided by the Commandant General,’’ he said.

    He appreciated the support of the Commandant-General, Abdullahi Muhammadu to the command and assured that the facilities would be put to very effective use.

    On synergy with sister agencies, Isah said the NSCDC and other security agencies in the state were like a family.

    “We have been working as brothers and sisters. We share information, we consult one another; we are a family with a common goal,” he said.

    NAN

  • ‘$5b Mambilla hydropower for sale on completion’

    The Federal Government may privatise the 3050 Megawatts (Mw) Mambilla Hydropower plant on completion, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said.

    Fashola, in an exclusive interview with The Nation, said the planned privatisation was in line with government’s policy of encouraging private generation capacity.

    He said: “Ultimately we will involve the private sector in the construction and management of the facility because it is consistent with the policy of private generation capacity.

    “But let me say that this is where the role of my Ministry becomes even most defined in terms of policy. Mambilla represents a policy, a policy of renewable energy using water, a policy of energy security for the country that gives us over 3,000Mw, so that we are no longer solely dependent on gas.”

    In comparism, he said: “Look at the UK, they are building a nuclear power plant that they have privatised, but government is still actively involved because they see it as energy for the future. When Mambilla is fully developed and ready, we will hand it over to the private sector,” he stated, adding that Nigeria had to fall back on its sovereign credit rating to borrow the money and deliver the power and someone can come and manage it.

    “If you look at Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro, they are big dams. It was government that built them, but they are now managed by private hands. So these are some of the things government must de-bottle in order for them to happen,” Fashola said, pointing out that if there is opportunity to do the same with solar, government will do it. If we had invested in solar 10 years ago, this is the right time to switch to solar as the rainy season is ending, where your hydro is not as prolific anymore and the sun is now prolific this is what you move to naturally.”

    Fashola also said the government will wade into improving the capacity of the distribution companies (DisCos) as the power distributors currently are behind other segments in the supply value chain.

    The minister said: “The problem with the DisCos is that they don’t have capacity to expand the way it is expected. Their challenges include exchange rate and liquidity, among others. The roll out of excellent services including metering that was expected has not happened in the way we expected it. Some have happened.

    “Second problem is that most of the equipment they bought were old enough, nobody can dispute that. Those equipment must be changed. Some of those equipment had original manufacturers’ rating on the day they bought the equipment. For example, does your 10-year old car run at the same speed after 10 years? No, those are the realities. So those equipment have been de-rated. Even in transmission, sometimes all we need to do is add a new transformer to double the capacity. Those are the things they supposed to do.

    “In the area where the equipment are not de-rated, the population has grown, more people have built houses. So they must expand, that is the problem. How do we solve the problem? We have asked the DisCos to give us the number of transformer they need and their ratings, give us the number of lines – how many kilometres, how many volts. They are doing that work now. How much does it cost? When it comes, we have to take it and ask how we fund it.

    “These are companies where the government owns 40 per cent. We will be able to know what each DisCo needs and what it costs. When we dimension that, we must know who the suppliers are, because we are not awarding contract to anybody. However, I still have to get Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval on this and buy everybody’s idea. That is what we must do so the DisCos will inject the additional 2000Mw we are generating into the grid,” Fashola stated.

  • Fed Govt, Chinese firms sign $5.8b Mambilla 3050mw contract

    The Federal Government and three Chinese firms have signed the contract for the 3,050 megawatts (mw) Mambilla hydropower project valued at $5.792 billion (about N2.096 trillion) in Mambilla, Sarduana Local Government Area of Taraba State.

    Speaking at the signing in Abuja, Power, Works & Housing Minister Babatunde Raji Fashola said the “Federal Executive Council ( FEC) on August 30, 2017, approved the award of the turnkey EPC contract of the project to Messrs CGGC- SINOHYDRO-CGOC joint venture in the sum of $5.792,497,062.00”.

    “The draft contract agreement was later cleared for signing by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.”

    The minister said at a bilateral parley between President Muhammadu Buhari and People’s Republic of China on government to government cooperation to execute the project got a clear reaffirmation of Chinese financing using Chinese contractors.

    Fashola noted that following a series of negotiation, the joint venture revised its offer three times before final offer price of $5,792,497,062.00 exclusive of taxes and duties with completion period of 72 months.

    According to him, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has reviewed the ministry’s request and granted a Due Process of No Objection in the sum of $5,792,497,062.00 in favour of JV that includes compensation, land acquisition and resettlement.

    Fashola said that the Federal Government will provide 85 per cent ($4,923,622,502.70) out of the contract price of $868,874,556.30 as counterpart fund.

    He said the scope of the works include: four large dams (Nya Sumsum, Nghu and Api Weir), two underground power house of 12 units of 250mw each, two numbers of 330KV of 700km transmission lines to Makurdi and Jalingo, 120 kilometres access roads connecting the project site and nearby communities and resettlement of 100,000 impacted persons.

    The minister noted that the preliminary feasibility study was carried out by Moto Columbus in 1972.

    He added that between 1981 and 1985, Diyam Consultants with Binnie and partners carried out another preliminary study, where recommendation of 3960MW capacity was recommended.

    Fashola said in April 2005, Messrs Lahmeyer International of Germany carried out detailed bankable feasibility study and the report of 2006 recommended rate peak capacity of 2,600MW with an estimate generation of 4,600GWh per annum after review of the previous studies.

    According to him, in April 2007, following selective tender, FEC awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction of the civil works/hydraulics component of the project to Messrs CGGC/CGC.

    But, the minister noted that a dispute prevented the execution of CGGC/CGC contract.

    Thereafter, in December 2011, FEC awarded the consultancy services to Messrs Coyne et Bellier Decrwon/WADSCO JV consultants to further review the two previous studies based on new hydrology, geology investigation and recommended 3,050MW, which consists of four dams namely: Nya Sumsum, Nghu and Api Weir with annual generation of 5,391GWh to be implemented for six years plus defective lability period.

    Fashola signed the contracts agreement on behalf of the Federal Government. The representatives of the Chinese firms, who signed for their organisations include: Yong Jun for China Gezhouba Corporation, Gan Yongskiv for Sinohydro Corporation Ltd and Ye Shijing for CGOC Group Ltd.

  • Horror on Mambilla Plateau

    When you want to exterminate a people, profile them, castigate them, stigmatize them through propaganda and leave them lying waste for attack while the world looks the other way. This is what Adolf Hitler did before he launched his holocaust against the Jews. When the propaganda against the Jews was going on nobody bothered until the propaganda reduced the Jews to mice and cockroaches and it was then too late to save them as human beings by the world.

    From recent events and particularly the current massacre of the Fulani on the Mambilla Plateau and what followed- the silence of the Nigerian media especially the southern press seemed to have fitted perfectly with the Hitlerite era. The southern press has been waging a persistent, constant and unrelenting propaganda war against the Fulani herdsmen by not only accusing them of destroying farmlands but also raping their mothers, wives and sisters. They even call them terrorists, Jihadists and Boko Haram, all in an effort to prepare them for mass execution, without the slightest sympathy from other Nigerians and the international community. Otherwise where are the stories, the features, syndicated columns, editorials etc? Where are the Jide Oluwajuyitans, the Louis Odions, the Femi Orebes, Wole Olaoyes, Segun Ayobolus, Segun Gbadegesins and my good friend Sam Omatseye et al?

    In Nigeria, religion and ethnicity can justify anything, no matter how horrendous. The recent Mambilla massacre against Fulani herdsmen cannot be a better example of the level to which we have descended in this country. All decent human beings should feel touched by the level of the destruction of human lives in this most unfortunate bloodletting attack on women and children, including infants and the old. It is one of the goriest losses of humanity the Nigerian society has suffered.

    What made this case difficult for the hate masters of the Fulani herdsmen that prevented them from turning the table against the herdsmen was the fact that there was no allegation, as usual, by the Mambilla farmers that their crops were destroyed by the herdsmen and their women raped. Otherwise these hate mongers especially their press, would have carried screaming headlines that it served the herdsmen right to be so massacred by the Mambilla tribes of farmers.

    As a son of a herdsman myself, I did not allow emotions to devastate me until I read the statement of the acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 3 Division of Nigerian Army, Jos, Brig Gen. Benjamin Ahanotu, on page 55 of the Daily Trust of Sunday, June 25. Listening to him at the palace of the Chief of Mambilla Plateau, Dr. Shehu Audu Baju II: “Even Boko Haram did not slaughter women and children but here I saw young children and pregnant women slaughtered. We should know that the victims are fellow Nigerians and indigenes of this area who should be treated with dignity”, he said.

    When I read this statement from a Christian General, I wept profusely because that is when I realized what really happened! What is democracy if this is the level to which human life has been reduced to? Is democracy insanity? Even wild animals do not kill their young ones in such a manner of total brutality, without provocation and justification. Even in a war situation, such carnage does not and is not allowed to happen because people will face war crimes but here in Nigeria, anything goes.

    To further amplify this human tragedy, three Mambilla tribal men namely; 1. Muhammed A. Tersi 2. Ismaila D.M and 3. Markus Bovoa took a full page advertorial, duly signed by them, in the Daily Trust of Saturday, June 24, page 49 titled “Press release on the recent crisis between grazers and farmers on the Mambilla Plateau- the true position” where they tried to justify this attack and casualties on the Fulani herdsmen! One of their statements read – “These Fulani leaders also engaged in savage deceit when they showed photographs of the victims of the bomb blast in Adamawa sometime back as pictures from Mambilla crisis. Their strategy in the crisis has been engage (sic) in maximum deception of the public” they said. Haba! You mean Gen Ahanotu did not know the difference between the Adamawa bomb blast victims from the slaughtered women and children he had seen and was talking about in Mambilla Plateau?

    On May 3, I had the privilege of meeting Governor Darius Ishaku in his office, courtesy of the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Yunana Babas, after my meeting with him earlier where we discussed the unfortunate Takum and Ussa Fulani herdsmen and farmers boiling crisis then and we resolved to see the governor so that I could plead with him to speak on behalf of the farmers of Taraba State while I speak on behalf of the herdsmen and to call for a ceasefire and assure the warring groups that we were doing everything possible to restore peace in the areas. Governor Darius told me point blank that it was the fault of the Fulani herdsmen who killed a farmer in the river and I told him his version was different from that of his Police Commissioner who told me they were still investigating and that no arrest had been made. If nobody was arrested, how did the governor come to the conclusion that it was a herdsman or men that killed the farmer?

    Feeling a pang of disappointment, I told Governor Darius whether it was okay for hundreds of innocent lives to be lost because of the action of one man or two men who might have been mental cases even if it was true the herdsmen did it? He looked at me menacingly and said that Fulani herdsmen were planning to wage a Jihad against Taraba State and its people (farmers) and that he was equally prepared to reincarnate, resuscitate and reinvent Kororofa Empire, to subdue the Fulani herdsmen!

    I was only too glad to take leave of Darius office because of the bitterness which he showed me that did not even permit him to offer me a cup of tea while he savoured one. Seeing that my assignment to intervene for peace had hid the rocks, I left first thing the following morning. I left Taraba State a disappointed leader and the crisis continued unabated, cumulating into the seriousness that was witnessed.

     

    • Bayari, is the Secretary-General of the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association.