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Tag: Ombatse

  • How 25 people were killed by Ombatse, by witness

    How 25 people were killed by Ombatse, by witness

    The Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing the killings of security personnel in Nasarawa State yesterday heard how the Ombatse Militia Group (OMG) allegedly killed 25 persons in Gwandenye/Agyaragu community in November last year.

    The OMG were also accused of inflicting first degree injuries on seven people and destroying 329 household property in the village.

    These allegations were contained in a memorandum presented to the panel by the Migili Traditional Council.

    The memorandum was jointly signed by Musa Aloko (Zhe-Lukho Migili), a lawyer and Daniel Musa Jatau (Levu Migili).

    Also yesterday, the Chairman of the Commission, Justice Fola Gbadeyan (rtd) said he would conduct the morning session at the palace of the Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Mustapha Agwai 1.

    The panel would return to its Magistrate Court 11 official sitting venue by 2pm to continue, he said.

    The Commission is expected to take the submission made to it by the Lafia Emirate Council at the palace.

    The memorandum would be presented by Alhaji Hudu Aliyu Mailafiya (Magatakarda of Lafia) with Dr. A. Ramalan as counsel.

    Aloko told the Commission that the attack took place on November 21 and 22 last year.

    He said that the “unprecedented mayhem” allegedly carried out by 3,000 members of the OMG led to the death, loss of properties and the burning of the traditional palace of the Migili people.

    Aloko said: “The Southern Senatorial District of Nasarawa State has been home and theatre of bloodshed unleashed on the hapless citizens by this outlawed Ombatse Militia.

    “It started from Assakio and moved to Gidinye/Agyaragu and spread to Kwandere and other areas.

    “The footprints of this orgy of bloodshed and violence has the imprimatur of the Ombatse, the militia of the Eggon Ethnic nation.

    “As a result of the attack by the Eggon people on the Migili people of Gwandenye and Agyaragu on the 21st and 22nd of November, 2012, 25 lives of Migili people were lost. Seven people sustained first degree injury.

    “This was because the Eggon people with the help of mercenaries and the Eggon militia group (Ombatse) unleashed serious violence on the Migili people of Gwandenye and Agyaragu, where both old, young and incapacitated were attacked with sophisticated weapons.

    “Apart from the dead, the Eggon people callously set ablaze the home of the Migili people, all their property were burnt and looted.”

    Aloko told the Commission that “329 household properties” including the palace of the Migili traditional ruler were burnt.

    He alleged that among those who attacked the village were a serving Immigration officer and a Sergeant in the Police.

    He went on: “The irony of the matter was that when I was the Chairman of my local government, this police officer now a Sergeant was an Inspector in my area.

    “He used to come to me to seek help and I used to assist him with money. But he was the same officer that supervised the burning of my country home.”

    He added: “These pockets of bloodshed and violence in isolated communities are some of the remote causes that translated and metamorphosed into the killing of over 50 security personnel in Alakyo village of Lafia Local Government.

    “The outlawed militia group eliminates and attack any perceived group which to its conclusion is a threat to its misconceived and misplaced agenda of ‘time has come’, the literal meaning of Ombatse.”

    Aloko said the precision of execution of the acts of violence by the OMG and the manner of reinforcement of the attackers left the uncontroverted evidence that the act was premeditated and carefully planned.

    He said it was the “implication and consequence” of the attack that prompted the Nasarawa State Government to outlaw the violent group.

    Aloko said: “However, despite the abrogation of the Ombatse Militia Group, and in furtherance of its ethnic agenda, it’s activities continued unabated with arrogant impunity leading to calculated attacks with tales of terror to any other community perceived by this militia group as an antithesis to the maturity of their goals.

    He said though the state government constituted a Commission of Inquiry to probe the attack, “we are constrained to look at this Judicial Commission of Inquiry as the panacea to the orgy of bloodshed that has become a constant trademark of this militia group.”

    He said the OMG usually wore black caps, black shirts and go bare footed whenever they want to carry out an attack.

    He said they also use amulets and rings during operations.

    Aloko said: “During the unfortunate mayhem, the Eggon of Angwan, Yakubu joined with mercenaries and or militia (Ombatse) from different Eggon settlements, some dressed in black militia attire, armed with sophisticated weapons, got petrol in jerry cans, used disposed and disused tyres, went along with vehicle looting, burnt and killed Migili people irrespective of age and sex.”

    When the Counsel to the Commission, Mrs. Lawal Funsho, asked Aloko to show proof that the attack was carried out by members of the OMG, he said one of the Ombatse militias was “burnt at the Zhe Migili’s Palace with all the amulets and paraphernalia of the Ombatse militia on him.”

    He said the rings and patch of clothes recovered from the burnt Ombatse militia have been preserved in the community’s archive.

    On how to stop incessant violence in the state, Aloko advised the government to ensure that the youth are gainfully employed to prevent their being used for destructive activities in future.

    Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Ipusu Community yesterday told the Commission that various groups are militants.

    According to him, such groups include Tiv Militia Soja-Batari, Alago Masquerade, Ardo Fulani Group, Ombatse Militia Group and others.

  • Nasarawa killings: Ombatse rejects panel’s mandate

    The Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing the killing of security forces in Alakyo Village, Nasarawa, was on Thursday told that it lacks legal powers to carry out some of its assigned duties.

    The Legal Adviser to the Ombatse Militia Group, Zachary Zammani Alumugu, spoke at the inaugural sitting of the commission in Lafia.

    Alumugu contended that Ombatse was never banned.

    The panel was set up by Governor Tanko Al-Makura following the massacre of over 50 policemen and operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) in an ambush allegedly by members of the Ombatse Militia Group in Alakyo village, on May 7.

    But the group denied complicity in the killings.

    Alumugu said what appeared to be preliminary objection was to enable the commission decide whether it was competent to adjudicate on some of the provisions contained in its terms of reference as regards the alleged proscription of Ombatse by the Nasarawa State Government in 2012.

    He said: “I want to derail a little to comment on the setting up of this commission and its terms of reference particularly as it relates to the use of other laws.

    “For instance, number two of the terms of reference mandates the commission to inquire into why Ombatse is still existing despite its proscription vide Nasarawa State Legal Notice No. 4 of 2012.

    “With the greatest respect, I want to tell the commission that this law is fraudulently made. It has never been. The making of a law like this has procedures.

    “You will have to set up either a District Judge or a Justice of the Peace to look into the problems of the people and thereafter agree and make recommendations.

    “It is on the basis of that that the Governor can make this law. That has not been done. The penal section that this Commission has been asked to use, can only be executed by a District Judge.

    “If this commission uses that law, I want to ask, with what power? Are you clothed with the powers of a District Judge or by the mere fact that you are a commission, you now assume other powers?

    “Those two laws, with the greatest respect, are inappropriate as far as I am concerned. I am saying so because we don’t know where to go subsequently.”

     

  • Al-Makura vs. Ombatse’s Chief Priest

    It is apparent that the dust raised by the recent, senseless deployment of security officers to their untimely death in Alakyo, Nasarawa State, has refused to settle. The unfortunate incident claimed the lives of no fewer than 75 policemen, including a dozen operatives of the State Security Service, SSS. The Police and the SSS had put the number of their dead or missing officials at 56. They comprised 46 police officers and 10 SSS operatives.

    It was gathered that no member of the Mobile Police Force, PMF 38 Squadron in nearby Akwanga, Nasarawa State, also known as “Tiger Squadron”, who were dispatched to dislodge the Ombatse militia group, survived the raid. A top police officer recently said that apart from the 61 MOPOL officers that were deployed from Akwanga, the Police is yet to see many others mobilised from the MOPOL base in Lafia, including the men of the State CID. So the claim that only 56 policemen died cannot be true.

    Abayomi Akeremale, the Commissioner of Police who ordered the deployment ‘at midnight’, has since been replaced with Umar Shehu, who has resumed. But news emanating from the state has continued to paint a gory and grisly picture of what must have actually transpired. It was also learnt that Mohammed Abubakar, the Inspector-General of Police, had summoned the officer in charge of the base to the Force Headquarters. The Police High Command was also said to have begun an investigation into allegation that the Nasarawa State Government paid a huge amount of money to the state police command to influence the massive deployment of its officers for the ill-fated operation against the militia group. Findings indicated that the 2015 race for governorship position in the state informed the operation against the militia group.

    Never in the history of barbarism in Nigeria has a large contingent of security officers been driven to their ‘cheap death’ such as this. The issue of money changing hands between police commanders and state governors has been a source of irritation to the public and also a great embarrassment to the force itself. But whenever this ugly episode rears its head, the hierarchy of the police has always been quick to cover up the misdeeds of their men with ridiculous explanations, distortions and half-truths.

    As for the issue of 2015 being at the centre of the whole crisis, those who alluded to this, and they are many, including my humble self, believe that it is not far from the truth. This argument is more germane when the revelation that has so far come from the major ‘dramatis personae’ in the crisis is pieced together. They are Al-Makura, the governor of the state, and Alla Agu, the chief priest of the Ombatse cult in Lakyo, Nasarawa South Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

    The chief priest recently said that security men that invaded the community were ordered by the state governor to kill him. Seventy-six-year-old Agu, popularly called Baba Lakyo, spoke through an interpreter when Solomon Ewuga, the Senator representing Nasarawa North Senatorial District in the Senate, visited him. Agu said the security operatives did not come to arrest him, but to kill him “and cut off my head and take it to the governor”.  According to him, “it is the governor that asked the people (police officers) to come here, arrest me and cut my head… When they came, because they were themselves drunk, my god did not allow them to come to me and they died on the way. The question I asked is, ‘Has the governor ever invited me and I refused to go?’ If I’m invited, I will go. But he sent people to kill me and to destroy Lakyo as a whole. That is just what it is.”

    Contrary to reports that the police invaded the village after he shunned their invitation, the chief priest has pooh-poled the governor’s claim by saying that he had never been invited by any of the security agencies. Although Lakyo is now peaceful, besides the carcasses of burnt vehicles used by the security men, Baba Alakyo said he was unhappy with what happened and was apprehensive of the fate that might befall him afterwards. He also denied ever forcing people to join the group through any initiation or drinking of concoction. He also said that he was in a nearby village when the incident took place.

    Asked whether the incident had anything to do with the politics of the state, Baba Alakyo said, “If you are talking about politics, it does not bother me. I don’t even understand Hausa language. Politics is not for me because I am not a politician. Politics is for politicians but I hear that the time for politicking has not even come.”  He said that Ombatse was an association of Lakyo boys into which nobody was forced to belong. According to him, it is even more saddening that he is being linked to the incident, especially when he knew nothing about what happened to the policemen.

    The governor, however, dismissed Baba Alakyo’s claim that he was never invited for any meeting. The governor, who spoke through Iliya Aliu, his chief press secretary, said it was on record that the head of the cult group did not honour several invitations extended to him. He said, “The Police and the SSS invited him before this incident but he refused to honour any of them. It was after he refused to answer all of these invitations that the State Security Council met and decided that he should be arrested. Even their name, Ombatse, means it is our turn, their turn for what?”

    On his own part, Chris Mamman, the President of the Eggon Cultural Development Association, the umbrella body for Ombatse, said the only way to get to the root of what happened at Alakyo was for the Federal Government to set up a judicial commission of inquiry.

    I totally agree with Mamman that only a high-powered judicial commission of inquiry can unravel the hidden truth of this case. Such committee should get to the root of this heinous crime that has now become an issue to be tossed around by Al-Makura and Baba Alakyo. It is obvious that the issue involved here is between the governor and Baba Alakyo as well as the mad race for 2015 election or re-election. It is all a pointer that the 2015 race will be as deadly as ever if the fever has really caught up the polity this way like hurricane in harmattan.

    Now that it is very clear that the governor might have been economical with the truth, especially with the large number of security operatives involved in the midnight raid as well as the issue of money changing hands. These are weighty allegations strong enough to keep the judiciary commission of enquiry on their toes to unmask the culprits. Even whether Akeremale has retired or not, he must also be made to face the music if he is found guilty or complicity in the entire horrible saga. All those directly or remotely connected should face the law at the levels of their involvement. This is not the time to sweep matters of national shame under the carpet. The cops cannot die in vain.

    However, we should take cognizance of the fact that the governor belongs to one of the opposition parties and so the government at the centre should not see this as an opportunity to witch-hunt him in order to shove him out of office. Also, if the claim of the chief priest is true but I strongly doubt this, the government can enlist the assistance of his ‘god’ to root out the Boko Haram insurgents ravaging the northern part of the country. At least, if Baba Alakyo’s god can wipe out such a frightening number of security agents within a twinkle of an eye, he should be able to engage Boko Haram insurgents in a matter of minutes or hours.

     

     

  • IGP: Ombatse ‘killers’ of 49 policemen won’t go scot free

    IGP: Ombatse ‘killers’ of 49 policemen won’t go scot free

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday said the report of investigation into the killing of 49 policemen in Nasarawa State would be made public at the appropriate time.

    Abubakar addressed reporters in Abuja after inaugurating 12 patrol vehicles for the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 49 policemen and 10 operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) were killed at Alakyo village in Nasawara State on May 7.

    They were alleged to have been killed by members of the Ombatse cult from the ancestral shrine of the Eggon-speaking people of the state.

    The IGP vowed that nobody or group of persons operating under any name would kill policemen and go scot-free.

    He said: “Investigation is ongoing and the outcome of the investigation will be revealed to Nigerians at the most appropriate time. We cannot keep quiet to allow anybody in this country, whether individual or group of persons, under whatever canopy they call themselves, to kill officers of the police and go scot-free.

    “There has never been speculation, we have always given the number out, that we lost 49 police officers.”

    On the closure of Wonderland Amusement Park and Amigo Supermarket, the Abubakar said the action was part of security measures.

    He said: “There is nothing new; security is security. You know what is happening in the country. We will go ahead to take any measure that deserves to be taken to ensure that Nigeria is safe and Nigerians are given safe and secured environment.

    “We shall do everything humanly possible to ensure that Nigeria is safe and our people are safe and secured no matter what it takes.”

     

  • 23 mobile policemen killed in Nasarawa

    About 23 Mobile policemen and operatives of the State Security Service were killed on Tuesday night in Nasarawa State in an ambush by members of  a militia group called  Ombatse.
    Nine others were critically injured by the militia and eight out of 11 operational vehicles set ablaze by the militia in the village, which is about 10 kilometres to Lafia, the state capital.
    But many  policemen were still missing as at press time amidst fears that they might have been abducted by the militia.
    The development forced the Governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura to rush to Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Wednesday in Abuja for presidential intervention.
    The state police commissioner, Abayomi Akeremale, who spoke with newsmen on the attack, said the large contingent was on a mission to raid the shrine.
    He said: “We decided at the State Security Council meeting, because of the frequent attacks on churches and mosques by this particular group, who are forcing people to swear an oath at the shrine, that we carry out an operation and arrest the perpetrators for prosecution, less it turns into a religious crisis.
    “The people; some called them Ombatse, but they call themselves cultural people; ambushed our men and opened fire”, Mr. Akeremale said.
    “The policemen were on operation to raid the place and make arrests, particularly of the chief priest, and other leaders, who  have been torturing worshipers in churches and mosques to force them to swear an oath of allegiance to Ombatse.
    He said the worshipers had tortured and compelled an inspector of police, to swear allegiance to Ombatse, but added that the officer has been freed, and returned to his duty post.
    “We are still after the persons “administering the oath forcefully on people. We will make sure we bring the perpetrators to book.”
    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Michael Ada admitted that 23 policemen and men of the SSS were killed.
    He said  eight patrol vehicles were also burnt.
    Ada said:”The casualty we confirmed is 23. They killed and burned 23 policemen and SSS. They also burnt eight patrol vehicles. But our rescue team is still in the bush, and has not return to give update.”
    On his part, Governor Almakura  confirmed that over 20 policemen and security operatives were killed.