A pall of darkness has fallen over Benue. This year is remarkable for anxiety, pain and fear in the Northcentral state. Human life seems to have no meaning as people are slaughtered at will like rams. It is short, brutish and nasty. When will the carnage end?
Even, if it ends, how can the victims and the generality of indigenes and residents quickly recover from the inevitable post-traumatic experience?
The motive for the bloodletting is largely unknown. The serial killers are not leaving clues, although some survivors claimed they had them speaking a particular northern language. So far, they seem invincible. They carry sophisticated weapons that embolden them and instil fear in their targets. This means that the onslsught is heavily funded, also by unidentified sponsors. Their activities are beyond kidnapping. They outrightly kill, maim, destroy houses and vanish into thin air, leaving blood and sorrow in their trail. They only return to repeat the attack with greater intensity in another location. As they set houses ablaze, whole families are wiped out.
No doubt, they are terrorists and bandits of special breed. But where they come from is a matter of conjecture. The governor, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, suggested that they are foreign elements who crossed the borders illegally to perpetuate mayhem. The reverred Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, alleged calculated genocidal herder-terrorist invasion. He also said the bandits are on a curious land grabbing expedition similar to the Plateau scenario.
Rival politicians, who have alleged that the violence has nothing to do with ethnicity and religion, insisted that it is politically motivated. Some critics disagree, saying that the marauders were instigated by symbols of a particular religious tendency pushing for supremacy.
Yet, other monarchs accuse unnamed politicians of heating up Benue in a way and manner that can make an emergency rule more compelling.
These claims have not been ascertained or substantiated with unassailable evidence. Thus, there is confusion. There is indignation. The apprehension is palpable. Nobody knows what would happen next.
Farmers are sacked from farmlands in the ‘Food Basket of The Nation’ in this crucial planting season. This has far-reaching implications for the country that has set a target for food security. There is mass withdrawal from the traditional occupation and consequential loss of anticipated income.
Rights and freedom from molestation are deprived. The problems of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are compounded. They are tragically displaced from their camps. Many people are missing. Houses are destroyed. Communities are dispersed. Chances of survival are slim.
Tension has engulfed many local governments yet to be visited by the unknown gunmen. The major victims are the masses. The governor is greatly troubled because when he was elected two years ago, he was not given a democratic mandate to preside over corpes and mass burial. He is a popular priest, whose antecedent as a shepherd was widely acknowledged. But the political congregation – the people of the state, irrespective of their tribes and beliefs – are now under siege for no fault of his.
In the last two months, the attention of the state government has been diverted. Governance is only possible, effective and meaningful in an atmosphere of peace. As attention shifted to the inexplicable war in Benue, other things are put on hold.
Fr. Alia has worked hard in the last two years to distribute expanded dividends to the people. It is distressing that his government is being distracted by these crises.
While the persistent violence has been attributed to known factors, including terrorism and banditry, it has been said that it festered because the home condition never permitted an atmosphere of collective resistance or problem solving.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s admonition to the Benue leaders, ahead of his visit to the state during the week gave an hint. He dispatched a high-powered delegation to do preparatory consultations, including security assessments, and interface with local actors to ensure that the his intervention yields positive results. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, a former governor of the state, was party of the delegation.
Politically, the state is divided. It is normal in democracy. But the Benue chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is polarised by the feud between the camp of the governor and that of the SGF.
The governor’s supporters have alleged that Akume’s was aloof to the plight of the state government as the agony of the people grew in leaps and bounds, despite being a former governor and political leader. In reaction, Akume’s men fired back, saying that the governor neither listened to fatherly advice nor permitted the required perley with some leaders of the security agencies. The unnecessary media war underscored the gap between the godfather and ‘god-son governor.’ But observers cautioned against the politicisation of the crisis that needed solutions that can come through joint efforts.
Concious of the Benue political situation, President Tinubu also urged the people to learn to manage their hanger and frustration, and live in peace to put an end to the menace. He also advised Fr. Alia and other Benue leaders to maintain peace and harmony among themselves.
Benue is a heterogeneous sub-national unit. The clevages were precursors of conflicts among the ethnic groups who at a time were at loggerheads. Also, the state had had a dose of herder-farmer clashes with multiple debilitating effects. Many were beheaded on the farms and in their villages few years ago and there was no trace of the perpetrators. Even, at a time, former Governor Samuel Ortom, while on the farm, had to run for his life, leaving his security aides to repel the bandits.
Concious of Benue’s plurality, the President admonished the people to live above the division and see themselves as one single, huge family living in the same house, staying in different rooms, but living together in harmony and unity in diversity for collective prosperity.
It is reassuring that President Tinubu has given a marching order to the security chiefs to curtail the violence and apprehend the perpetrators. Some survivors said security agencies tried to repel the attacks. But, it is embarrassing that not a single arrest has been made in connection with the serial killings. Now that the president is putting security chiefs on their toes, his tone suggestes that heads may roll, if nothing concrete is achieved.
But, President Tinubu also set the stakeholders on the path of home grown solution. The indigenes and residents are expected to be vigilant and assist the security agencies in intelligence gathering. First of all, those who subvert the communities by acting as informants to bandits should be fished out.
Self-defence has been advocated. It means that people would have to arm themselves. The darkside is that it may make communities more vulnerable due to lack of ‘local arm control.’ In peace time, some desperate political actors may arm their thugs. After the elections, these thugs may abscond and turn the guns on society as armed robbers.
Many believe that state, community police or multi-layer policing is helpful, particularly in ensuring security at the state and local government levels. It means more investment and the expansion of recruitment to reduce the current abysmal police/citizen ratio. The truth is that policemen are too few, relative to the huge population.
Besides, state or local police, as being envisaged, are expected to possess adequate knowledge and understanding of the history, tradition, geography and sociology of the particular environment. The policemen are expected to reside in the communities. Thus, they have a stake there, and they are likely to develop a sense of attachment to the people and their security expectations. Through that sheer involvement, they develop commitment to community welfare.
Fr. Alia has called attention to a grave challenge. That is the problem of porous borders. If the point of entry and exit remains porous, foreign bandits as illegal migrants, may sustain the pattern of attacks. Therefore, the policing of borders is very crucial.
It is a trying period for Benue. If the bloodshed is not halted, the killers may be inadvertently motivated to spread their tentacles to other states.
May it not happen.
