Worry as security agencies make conflicting claims on Fulani herdsmen crisis

The killings by rampaging herdsmen have continued unabated even as security agencies are yet to crack the January 1 massacre in Benue and Taraba.

This month alone, several killings by herdsmen have been reported in Ekiti, Plateau, Adamawa and Ogun States.

On Thursday, security chiefs met with President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Defence conformed after the meeting, that the herdsmen crisis was discused.

The nature of security reports the various security agencies gave has however become a source of concern because they have previously given conflicting reasons for the attacks.

DSS

The Department of State Security (DSS) reportedly submitted a security report to President Muhammadu Buhari claiming that the killings must have been carried out by the Islamic state in West Africa (ISWA) operating within some North Central and South-South sections of Nigeria.

According to The Punch, a top government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told journalists on Sunday that the security organisations told the President that the ISWA network is using foreign terrorists and recruiting young men to fight and kill innocent persons “ostensibly to exacerbate tensions along the county’s ethnic, religious and regional fault lines.”

He said the discovery was made following the arrest of several suspected attackers made up of Fulani herdsmen, government-sponsored militias, militants and other miscreants in Benue State.

Police

Before his trip to Benue, Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, described the crisis as a communal clash. He later withdrew the statement following a backlash

But after the ISWA revelation by the DSS, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Joshak Habila, said it would be too early to attribute the killings to anyone or group.

Punch quoted him as saying: “Investigation would show (ISWA involvement in the killings), it is too early to draw a conclusion, but whatever it is, the truth is everybody who is committing crime would be arrested and so, we don’t want to harp on anybody, group or organisation to make it difficult to process, but a criminal is a criminal.”

Ministry of Defence

The Minister of Defence, Col. Mohammed Dan-Alli (rtd.), on Thursday claimed that the enactment of the anti-grazing laws by some states was the immediate cause of the violence.

He said the cause as the blockage of cattle routes and the enactment of anti-open grazing laws by some state governments His position strengthens the insistence of umbrella body of the herdsmen that Benue, and indeed other states enacting anti open grazing laws should repeal the laws or experience more killings.

Dan Alli, according to ThisDay, said: “Since the nation’s Independence, we know there used to be routes whereby the cattle rearers took because they are all over the nation. You go to Bayelsa, Ogun, you will see them. If those routes are blocked, what do you expect will happen?

“These people are Nigerians. It is just like going to block the shoreline, does that make sense to you? These are the remote causes of the crisis. But the immediate cause is the grazing law. These people are Nigerians and we must learn to live together with each other.

“Communities and other people must learn how to accept foreigners within their enclave, finish!” he said.

He added: “On the issue of arms, they are all over the place. In the killings you are talking about, there are also militias that also did the killings. Some people were caught with arms and they call themselves forest (livestock) guards or whatever with AK47s.

“Militias were caught in the same land doing the same killings. So, the killings were not done by any particular group. It is a communal issue”.

His position re-echoes President Buhari’s advise to Benue leaders who visited him after the attacks. Buhari had asked Benue people to accommodate others.

“I ask you in the name of God to accommodate your countrymen. You can also be assured that I am just as worried, and concerned with the situation.”, Buhari had pleaded.

The ministers’ position may also embolden Myetti Allah, the umbrella body of Fulani herdsmen in the country, who maintain that the attacks won’t seize until states repeal their anti-grazing laws.

These conflicting positions by the government and its security agencies, have given many Nigerians reasons to suggest that the government was justifying the killings and unwilling to go after the killers. The proposal for cattle colonies across the country is also fueling the suspicion. Many state governments have however said “no to cattle colonies”.