NEWS: Buhari’s Plea to Accommodate Killer Herdsmen in Benue
While several condemnations have trailed these attacks which unfortunately have claimed over 70 lives, throwing a lot more of its citizens into mourning, the government both at the federal and state level seems to be at a cross road over what to do to check the ugly situation.
At the federal level, the Buhari administration has received several bashing for allegedly feigning ignorance on the enormity of the matter at hand, still pundits are quick to read political meanings to the impasse ahead of 2019 general elections.
But a new twist and a salient one at that may have surfaced when President Muhammadu Buhari played host to some high profile delegation from Benue State recently.
Among them were Deputy Governor of Benue State, Benson Abounu, former Senate President, David Mark, former Benue State Governor, Sen. George Akume and Sen. Barnabas Gemade.
Others include Sen. JK Waku, Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd), Brig. Gen. John Atom Kpera (rtd), former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly, Terkimbir Kyambe and other members of the National and State Assembly.
Their mission to the Villa that fateful Monday last week was to prevail on the President to take drastic actions against the killer herdsmen who invaded their community and murdered sleep in the wee hours of January 1st 2018.
To say the least, their hopes may have been dashed when the President started his conversation with a plea to the delegation, cautioning them to be more accommodating.
Hear the President, “Your Excellency, the governor, and all the leaders here, I am appealing to you to try to restrain your people. I assure you that the Police, the Department of State Security and other security agencies had been directed to ensure that all those behind the mayhem get punished.
“I ask you in the name of God to accommodate your country men. You can also be assured that I am just as worried, and concerned with the situation”.
I doubt if anyone would remain deviant if the President of the country gives out such plea to his subjects.
Coming to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), they also share their own grievances as part of the larger society, although the crisis did spread to Nasarawa and Taraba states, the killings are out rightly disgusting.
According to Ngelijarma, the Fulani herdsmen case has been worsened by long years of exclusion. He described his people as the most neglected community in the country, thereby depriving them of so many things.
Miyetti Allah believes that the current situation was being fueled by the draconian laws put in place by some state governments with the singular aim of chasing their people out of their state simply for ethnic hatred.
His words, “the anti open-grazing law which started in Ekiti State before it was replicated in Benue, Taraba and other states is nothing more than a symbol of intolerance and so not in any way intend to solve the farmers/grazers conflict as the livestock breeders interest is neither captured in the law nor in its implementation mechanism.”
Another crisis that is brewing is the new cattle colonies being proposed by the Federal Government, through the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh who himself hails from Benue State.
Many believe that he has not taken the pains to explain the meaning and concepts of cattle colonies and how preferable it is to ranches.
While the controversies over the recent Benue killings persist, the Federal government, in conjunction with state governments came up with a committee to unravel the mysteries behind these acts of lawlessness. independentng
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