“In 1994 almost one million Tutsis were
murdered in cold blood in the space of on month by members of the ruling
Hutu tribe in Kigali, Rwanda. The genocide that took place in Rwanda at
that time ranks as one if the most sordid chapters of African history
and it must never be allowed to happen anywhere again on our continent.
Sadly we do not appear to have learnt
the lessons of Kigali in our country probably because most Nigerians
have no knowledge of history because it is not taught in our schools.
That single failing and lack of
knowledge may well lead to our final undoing as a nation because the
parallels and signs of what led to the butchery and tragedy that
occurred in Rwanda are unfolding here today. The dark clouds of blood
are gathering but most of our people cannot even see them.
The title of this essay owes an
intellectual debt of gratitude to my friend and brother Chief Dele
Momodu who happens to be one of the most engaging writers and columnists
in Nigeria today. “Bobby Dee”, as Dele is better known to his close
friends, was a strong supporter of the June 12 struggle and something of
a protégée of the late and great Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the
June 12th presidential election in 1993.
He wrote an essay at that time and
during the heady and dangerous days of NADECO and General Sani Abacha,
in which he used this title. It was a brilliant essay and the title has
stuck with me ever since because it really captured the moment.
I believe that we are back on the road
to Kigali again in Nigeria and I pray that Dele will forgive me for
using the same title as he did approximately twenty years ago. Now to
the point.
The number of Igbos slaughtered by Fulani militants in Enugu on 25th April 2016 has gone up to 100.
Many churches and homes have been burnt
to the ground. When will President Muhammadu Buhari appreciate the fact
that NON-FULANI LIVES MATTER?
In reaction to this horrific situation, Mr. Babatunde O. Gbadamosi, a highly respected Lagos-based businessman, wrote the following on Facebook: “Scores slaughtered by #FulaniTerrorists
in Enugu, but the Fulani President, Muhammadu Buhari, his Fulani senior
security commanders and government functionaries are more interested in
pipeline vandals that are killing no one!
Nigerians, if you don’t arm yourselves and fight back, na una sabi.
Those of you Yoruba APC zombies that
think you are special, when they finish with the MiddleBelt, the
South-South and the South East, you will be next, and there will be no
one left to defend you.
I am referring to you, my Muslim uncles
and aunties, who think the Fulanis will see you as kindred spirits and
spare you. They will not. Just as they are fake Muslims in the
eyes of the Arabs, you are also fake Muslims in their eyes, only useful
to help subjugate your people under their rule, then you will see
pepper. Kill Afonjaism now, and stand for something, or your children will one day curse the day you were born”. Mr. Gbadamosi’s insight and
understanding of the situation is second to none. His counsel is as
priceless as it is timely. Let us hope that someone is listening.
In his own contribution to the debate on Facebook Mr. Lere Olayinka added the following:
“In this April alone, Buhari’s Fulani herdsmen killed almost 200 Nigerians, but Buhari’s headache is Niger Delta”. On his part, Mr. Charles Ogbu, an obviously intelligent and gifted young man, wrote the following on his Facebook wall. “The Fulani vampires are at it again.
Today, Enugu, my state is their target. Dozens of people have been
reportedly killed and hundreds displaced with buildings including a
catholic church burnt.
This murderous group killed hundreds in
#Agatu and occupied their land. The Fulani president did nothing. The
Fulani headed DSS did nothing. They went to Anioma in Delta state,
abducted and killed their king. The fulani president did nothing. The
Fulani headed DSS did nothing.
They went to Awgu community in Enugu
state, killed dozens and abducted dozens. The Fulani president did
nothing. The Fulani headed DSS did nothing. Only the police and the army did
something this time: they arrested 78 indigenes of Awgu who are the
victims and dumped them in prison and denied them bail on the allegation
that they planned on attacking the fulanis. Meanwhile, the perpetrators
were allowed to roam free It took a #hashtag campaign on social media for the #Awgu78 to be released.
Today, these vultures are back again,
visiting death and destruction on defenseless Uzo-uwani people of Enugu
state for no just cause. The president will not say anything
about this. The DSS will not say anything. The police will describe it
as a mere misunderstanding between farmers and herdsmen. They will
hardly confirm that anyone was killed neither will they arrest or
prosecute any of those invading fulani vultures. The jadi-jadi governor of Enugu state called Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi will neither say nor do anything about this.
The religious criminal called Father Mbaka …the one who swore that Buhari is the Lord’s anointed… will not talk. Basically, the citizens are left with no choice than to defend themselves by any means necessary. You either die fighting to defend your
honour, your family, your land and your dignity as a human person or you
die cowering in fear like some coward. Either way, you stand little
chance.
Permit me to point out one fact here: The Fulanis are not invincible (undefeatable) because they posses some kind of special fighting prowess. No! Not at all. These fulanis are invincible because
they are enjoying govt support/cover/protection in their murderous
activities. The impunity with which these guys operate is
state-sponsored.
This is a fact, not just my opinion. Deep down, you know it. I know it. President Buhari has a constitutional duty to protect the lives and
properties of all Nigerians. He swore to do this. He is being paid to do
this. He has deliberately chosen not to do this. He has chosen to place the
interest of his Fulani brethren above the lives of innocent Nigerians. Buhari believes that his Fulani people are superior to other Nigerians.
This is no different from the mindset displayed by Hitler which led to
the world war. We know how it ended. The silence of President Buhari over the murderous activities of his
fulani brethren is a moral tragedy! This is the height of man’s
inhumanity to man! Believe it or not, it will come to a time that Nigerians will rise up in
their numbers and confront the Fulani beasts together with their
sponsors.
There is a limit to what a man can take.
Let it be on record that Buhari is the one setting this country on the road once travelled by Rwandans in 1994”.
#GrazingBillMustDie
#SayNoToFulaniOccupation
#SayNoToFulaniOccupation
On her own part, again on Facebook, Miss Santors Ugwuada Ezirigwe wrote,
“Before now, the Fulani herdsman were
generally a group of cattle herding nomads plying their trade with every
sense of innocence.
Then his dagger and sword was primarily for personal use and self-defense in the wilds.
Then his dagger and sword was primarily for personal use and self-defense in the wilds.
However, this narrative has changed since the recent past especially since after the election of President Buhari in 2015. The Fulani herdsmen have become purveyors of violence, rape, kidnap, robbery, arson and murder. They are professional and coordinated in
their terrorist activities, an indication that it is an organic group
with possibilities of hierarchical command structure. Little wonder they have metamorphosed into the 4th most vicious terrorist group in the world. Terrorism is the calculated use of
violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to
attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature;
this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. And
this has become the hallmark of Fulani herdsmen.
Some allege that they have the backing of top Fulani officials in government and security apparatus.
Others allege that they are offshoots of
Boko haram terrorists while some others allege that they were assembled
by some elements in the North, trained and stationed to attack
Nigerians in the South in the event that GEJ wins the 2015 elections. GEJ conceded the election to their
greatest surprise but the trained Fulani terrorists were never debriefed
and disarmed, hence the surge in their terror acts since PMB took
office as President. Whatever be the case, one common
denominator in these narratives is “the mission to terrorize”. We seem
to be at war in Nigeria, though undeclared. Otherwise, why are there as
many deaths from weapons of warfare?
Unfortunately, there are no signs of
abatement. And the victims of this undeclared war have no one to run to
for safety and no hope of salvage. Rather than create assuring facts that
will contradict the Biafra narrative, President Buhari has more than
anyone else, through his continued silence to the activities of his
murderous brothers, among his other body language of contempt and
abhorrence of the Igbo, helped in creating Biafra. His continued silence remains suspect.
Such an attitude from a supposed national leader sends the wrong signal
to both the vanquished and the valorous.
To the vanquished victim, the leader
cares less about his plight and predicament. This as a consequence
diminishes his confidence in such a leadership.
To the valorous, the leader
“understands”. And this as a consequence emboldens him to up the ante of
terror against the vanquished. It is this loss of confidence that has
led many to advance self-help as an immediate and strategic response to
the activities of the murderous terrorist Fulani herdsmen.
These indeed are ominous and grave in
consequence. The Nigeria state apparatus have failed in her primary
responsibility to protect life and property of the victims of the
terrorist Fulani herdsmen.
The federal government, under President
Buhari’s watch, have done very little to inspire confidence and assure
security of life and property in the face of the prevailing harvest of
kidnaps, rape, armed robbery, violent attacks, arson and genocidal war
by his brothers against indigenous peoples of Nigeria.
Agatu & co were the victims of the terrorist Fulani herdsmen yesterday; it is Nimbo, Uzo Uwani that is the victim today. Tomorrow will certainly produce more victims unless urgent steps are taken to nip this unfortunate trend. In devising measures to counter these
marauding blood thirsty terrorists masquerading as herdsmen, we must
look beyond Nimbo, Uzo Uwani. We must fashion a regional strategy that
will require the collaboration of the leaders and the peoples of the
areas under siege.
Efforts should be activated to mobilize
through churches, Traditional rulers, Market and Town unions and
Associations, etc, to sensitize people about the need to be vigilant.
“Nkwucha aburo ujo” (caution is not cowardice).
We need to convene a regional assembly
to articulate defensive and offensive measures to be taken to reduce our
vulnerability to, and deter the terrorist acts of these terrorist
Fulani herdsmen. We should also organize protest rallies
across the region to renounce the activities of the terrorist Fulani
herdsmen and attract global attention to our predicament lest we be
fraudulently labelled as terrorists by the sponsors of the terrorist
Fulani herdsmen if we take to self-help before putting the world on
notice. MASSOB and other local vigilante groups
should be mobilized to counter the terrorist herdsmen in view of the
suspicious disposition of the conventional security apparatus of the
federal government.
Governors of South East states and
Governors of other states (Benue, kogi, Taraba, Delta, Edo, Ondo,
Platue) so far affected by the activities of these terrorist herdsmen
should mobilize and send a strong warning to The Presidency that, never
again shall they sit hopelessly and watch as the lives and property of
their subjects are destroyed by the terrorist Fulani herdsmen. These are short term measures for
restoration of sanity. The solution to this security challenge if we
must continue to stay together as a united Nigeria, is to restructure
our federation and allow the establishment of state police with full
powers to maintain law and order within the states”.
These are powerful words and insights from these young contributors. As they say there is fire on the mountain and many are concerned. When one considers all the facts one can
only come to one conclusion: this is Yugoslavia downloading. This is
the road to Kigali. This is Rwanda unfolding before our very eyes. A few months ago I wrote an essay in my
column with the New Telegraph Newspaper, The Daily Post, Pointblank
News, The Trent, The Signal, Premium Times, Breaking Times and The Sun
Newspaper about the atrocities of the Fulani militants titled ‘The
Herdsmen From Hell’. In that write-up I referred to the murderous militants as “vampires, cockroaches and tsetse flies”. In addition to that last week I wrote
another essay for the same columns and various other media houses titled
“The National Grazing Reserve Bill: The Greatest Evil Of All”.
In that contribution I pointed out the
grave dangers posed by the diabolical activities of the Fulani militants
and the long-term expansionist agenda of their backers and sponsors. One week before then I wrote yet another
article on the same topic and in the same mediums titled “For Whom The
Bell Tolls” in which I stated clearly that Nigeria was toying with a
massive conflagration in the not too distant future if the Buhari
government did not find the will and cultivate the courage to stop the
activities of the Fulani militants and if they refused to stop
supporting them. In return for these contributions I
received the usual insults from shortsighted Nigerians who have always
believed that the best way to contain evil is to tolerate it, bow before
it, accept it and welcome it with open arms.
It appears that I have now been vindicated and my concerns have proved to be legitimate.
The very same people that condemned me
and called me “‘a Fulani-hating racist”, “a purveyor of hate speech”, “a
hater of Muslims” and “a loud-mouthed and paranoid alarmist” just a few
months ago are now saying that I was right. Yet sadly it is too late. The vampires
are now in control and they have tasted blood. The Nigerian Janjaweed
are on a roll and they are determined to conquer new lands for the
Caliphate. Worse still they have the covert backing
and unofficial endorsement of the state. They will not stop now and
neither will they retreat.
Yet they are in for a shocker. Unless
there is divine intervention, what lies ahead for this country is
conflict, terror, bloodshed, war and ultimately a very messy and violent
division.
It saddens me to say so but that is the bitter truth. That is what “chanji” has brought upon us. “
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