The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, a civil rights advocacy group, has condemned the brazen act of suspected Fulani herdsmen. who invaded some communities in Benue State’s Logo Local Government Area.
The marauding herdsmen also forcibly displaced indigenous dwellers.
HURIWA, in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, urged security agents to arrest and prosecute the militiamen terrorizing the North Central state as soon as possible to send a clear message that forcible land takeover will not be tolerated.
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According to Joseph Anawah, a community leader, and former media aide to an ex-governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam, the herders invaded the communities with over 1,000 cows and settled in Tse Azaye, Tse Agah, Tse Getim, and Tse Losun villages in Tombo ward.
“They are so hostile and don’t want anyone to come close to them,” Anawah had said. When the cows arrived, the residents began to flee their villages out of fear of the unknown.
When the kindred Head of the Mbaifu community, Gbamga Nengem, visited their settlement to learn about their mission in his community, they told him emphatically that they had come for settlement and that any attempt to evict them, whether by the host community or government agencies, would elicit their wrath, leaving them with no choice but to resort to physical and open confrontation.”
HURIWA condemned the resurgence of herdsmen’s heinous activities in Benue and urged federal authorities and security agents to act quickly to halt the dangerous trend.
The group stated that the rising number of killings by aggressive killer herders has reached an alarming level, and that President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime must act quickly to halt the trend.
“Killings have resumed with the resurgence of invasion of Benue State by armed herdsmen,” HURIWA’s Onwubiko said. Over 5,000 Benue State residents have been killed by armed Fulani herdsmen since Buhari took office in 2015.
However, for all of these killings and destructions of farms and houses, churches, and killings of priests and worshippers, there is not a single suspect in jail for these heinous crimes because the federal government is unwilling to order soldiers, DSS, and police to arrest and prosecute these mass killings. In fact, the President has designated Governor Samuel Ortom as a persona non grata for his efforts to secure action and justice for his people.
The Benue State government has carried out mass burials on several occasions, including the burial of over 100 natives killed at the same time by armed herdsmen, and yet these terrorists are free to roam. The governor was almost killed, but he escaped thanks to good fortune.
The police claimed that the attempted killers who shot at the governor were apprehended, but this is false because no one has been prosecuted for a year. The Attorney General of the Federation (Abubakar Malami) must also begin the process of designating killer herders as terrorists in the same way that bandits are. Killer herdsmen must be brought to justice for their atrocities. When an aggressor’s impudence goes unchallenged, he or she becomes emboldened.
“As a result, HURIWA demands the immediate arrest of the marauding herders who are displacing Benue’s original residents from the Logo LGA.” There must also be legal actions taken against these killers who are free to roam the streets of Nigeria because the federal government refuses to arrest or prosecute them.
“HURIWA has already filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.” HURIWA will also file a new petition this week because the Federal Government has tolerated the killings for seven years while portraying itself as a supporter of Fulani herders.”
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