The recent attack by suspected Fulani herders that left not less than 36 persons dead in Benue State, came as a reminder of such incessant
The killings, which took place penultimate Wednesday in Gbegi community in Ukum Local Government Area of the state, unsettled everybody in the state. Speaking when he visited the community, Governor Samuel Ortom, told the grieving families that the unfortunate incident was very sad.
He argued that the limited conventional security agencies were overstretched and as such unable to provide adequate protection for the people, adding: “We are standing on our request for the Federal Government to give us a license for our Volunteer Guards to bear AK-47 and other sophisticated weapons. The security agencies have been overstretched, that being the case, our people have to defend themselves.
In the absence of state police departments, such improvised security groups are programmed to augment the services of the regular Nigerian police and other federal security agencies. But, while the allegation of double standards remains a subject of controversy, the dangerous circle of insecurity is widening as banditry, kidnapping for ransom, cattle rustling, herdsmen attacks and murders continue to make life chaotic in the country.
The government expressed the hope that by curtailing the random movement of cattle, the so-called farmers-herders conflicts would also be effectively checkmated. But, five years down the line, the state has suffered the most horrendous and barbaric killings never before witnessed in her history. It was within this period that the infamous 2018 new year’s day massacre that culminated in a mass burial took place.
With the situation on the ground, it did not take long for all to see that the Livestock Guards could not protect the people. Consequently, Governor Ortom did not hesitate to disband the outfit and, in its place, set up the Benue Community Volunteer Guards . Adopting a hit run tactics of guerilla warfare, the killer herdsmen were reported to be in the habit of sneaking in to carry out their sordid attacks and then sliding back into Nassarawa State. Unfortunately for the state government’s countermeasures, both the anti-open grazing law and the Volunteer Guards were laws promulgated by the Benue State House of Assembly, which had no bearing or binding on Nassarawa State.
In what appeared to lend further credence to the general suspicions, is the Federal Government’s refusal to grant Amotekun, the right to bear firearms. Perhaps the government knows that being a similar security outfit, the Benue Community Volunteer Guard could also line up in search of the same approval.
Considering the trauma, the hapless victims had undergone and were still going through, the Vice President’s remarks sounded really reassuring and soothing. But, while the IDPs continued to wait for patiently for the fabled Gordon, pangs of disappointment set in when it was reported that the same Federal Government had redeemed the $ 1 million it donated to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
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