President Muhammadu Buhari and the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, are currently meeting inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
This is the first time the two leaders will meet since the recent killings recorded in the state.
The governor arrived the Presidential Villa at 10:50 am and was led straight to the President’s office.
Details later…
Nigerian troops of 93 Battalion stationed in Takum, Taraba State, over the weekend arrested 9 members of Benue State government sponsored armed militia known as Civilian JTF at Arufu, a boundary town between Taraba and Benue State.
A statement released by Nigerian army claims five of them were armed with AK-45 rifles fully loaded. On their arrest, a reinforcement of CJTF came to prevent troops from arresting and transporting the arrested CJTF to the Battalion Headquarters. However, when the soldiers stood their ground the armed militia’s reinforcement later withdrew.
During the preliminary investigation the arrested CJTF claimed that the weapons were issued to them by Benue State government through one Alhaji Aliyu Tashaku.
The suspects also confirmed that they were 60 in number in their own camp located at Gbeyi, Benue State.
However, further investigation revealed that they were more than 1,000 at the camp, while over 700 of them bear arms.
Additionally, they revealed that the Benue State Government pay them the sum of N15,000.00 monthly.
However, the suspects laments that the state is owing them close to 5 months salary. They further revealed that they were trained by selected ex-service men assembled from all over Benue State.
Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday warned politicians to desist from playing politics with the murder of innocent lives in Benue, Rivers and other parts of the country to avoid igniting another crisis.
Osinbajo cautioned that under no condition should Nigerians allow anyone to create a religious crisis.
The vice president sounded the warning during an inter-denominational church service to mark the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration at the National Christian Centre in Abuja.
He insisted that due to the prevailing circumstance regarding the violence and loss of lives in parts of the country, President Buhari had ordered the police and the armed forces to deal decisively with the situation and ensure that the perpetrators were found and punished.
He recalled that it was the politicisation of Boko Haram at the early stage of the group that gave rise to its heinous activities, and enjoined Nigerians not to fall into another trap regarding the problems associated with herdsmen.
Osinbajo said: “We must recognise that as dangerous and as deadly and heartless as these killings are, there is also the danger of our allowing politics to play a part as this could lead to what we sometimes say “pour petrol into an already burning fire.”
“We must not permit the politicisation of this tragedy. One of the reasons why for years Boko Haram thrived, was because of the politicisation of the insurgency.
“There were those who are planning to benefit politically from the tragedy and they painted the opposition then as the perpetrator.”
The Vice President continued: “Again, we see some today who want to benefit politically from the killing of women and children in Adamawa, Benue, Jos and several other places stoking the embers of ethnicity and religion.
“By their hate speeches, they want to fix the criminal acts of the few individuals on who thrives and hold people and they would want to create a religious crisis if they are allowed.
“Our obligation is to stop them from playing dangerous politics that could threaten our unity and stability just as we continue to enforce the peace in the troubled areas.”
Vice President lauded the commitment and dedication of Nigerian military personnel to service, particularly the fallen heroes, stating that save for their efforts, Nigerians would not have been enjoying the peace.
Osinbajo said: “I am especially honoured to be here today to join family and friends of our departed heroes to mark this day when we remember the incredible sacrifices that they made to fill the vacuum.
“We have seen in the past few years how this rights have been challenged by the mindless extremism of the Boko Haram in the North East and how again our gallant military, the police and even the civilian population have risen jointly to rout these criminal combatants and restore peace to most communities in that zone.
“We have also seen even recently the killings that have resulted from the attacks of herdsmen and farmers and communities and also where farmers and communities have attacked herdsmen.”
“The president has also in almost daily meetings and strategic sessions with relevant security and law enforcement agencies work to find lasting and enduring solution to this issues,” he added.
In his sermon, Bishop of Jos Diocese Anglican Communion, Bishop Benjamin Kwashi, who represented Primate Anglican Communion, Archbishop Nicholas Oko, noted that the Armed Forces remained the only institution of hope of Nigerians.
According to him, the Nigerian military personnel laid down their lives against the Boko Haram terrorists ,against Fulani herdsmen, against kidnappers, against men and perhaps women who do not wish the country well.
He urged Nigerians to intensify prayers for peace, unity and progress of the country, he regretted that many of the nation’s military personnel have died in line of duties in their commitment to keep the nation peaceful and safe for the citizenry.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an urgent appeal to Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urging him to use his leadership position to “urgently call and/or facilitate the holding of a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address persistent killings apparently by herdsmen in Benue State of Nigeria and other parts of the country.”
The organization also urged Prince Al Hussein to “speak out strongly and condemn the killings apparently by herdsmen in the country, and make an official visit to Nigeria with special rapporteurs with relevant mandates to discuss the killings and concrete actions to end the killings and ultimately bring about significant improvements in the lives of farmers and their families as well as other citizens affected by violence across the country.”
In an urgent appeal dated 6 January 2018 and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organization said, “The UN Human Rights Council’s ability to successfully expose and hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account may be under threat if your office continues to ignore or pay little attention to the crimes and abuses apparently by herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators in Nigeria.”
The organization said, “While we acknowledge that the council has made significant contributions to human rights elsewhere, we are concerned that the violence and killings in Nigeria rarely attract the attention of the UN and particularly, your office. It is time for your office to speak out strongly against the continuing killings by herdsmen in Nigeria for the sake of thousands of victims and their families who continue to lack access to an effective remedy, including truth, justice and full and effective reparation.”
Suspected herdsmen yesterday killed at least 11 persons in a fresh attack on Tombu village in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State. This followed the alleged killing earlier in the week of at least 33 people apparently by herdsmen in the State.
The urgent appeal read in part: “The killings in Benue State of Nigeria and the distressing situation of farmers and their families paint a stark picture of the grave abuses carried out apparently by herdsmen and the impunity that they continue to enjoy. The actions of herdsmen hinder meaningful progress towards stability, development and peace in the country.”
“We also urge your office to facilitate the process of creating a commission of inquiry to investigate killings by herdsmen in Nigeria, and to uncover, name and shame cow owners that hire the herdsmen, as such owners may be criminally complicit in the killings. The involvement of your office will ensure solid investigations into the alleged killings, and help draw international attention to the problem, which in turn will go a long way in putting pressure on the Nigerian authorities to take concrete and meaningful steps to end the killings and bring suspected perpetrators to justice.”
“SERAP notes that the Human Rights Council was created in 2006 to replace the failed UN Commission on Human Rights, which had largely been unwilling to address real human rights concerns in deserving countries.”
“The council needs to be vigilant to avoid the problems that plagued its predecessor, including a loss of relevance from failing to speak out on human rights violations and abuses in deserving countries, such as Nigeria. We urge your office to seek full respect for the right to life, to personal security and dignity, to property, and other human rights of farmers and other Nigerians, consistent with the international human rights standards your office has sworn to uphold.”
“Nigeria is a member of the Human Rights Council, and has ratified several UN human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nigeria has also ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which has in fact become part of the national laws.”
“The Human Rights Council cannot be silent when innocent citizens are caught up in violence such as the one going on in Benue State. The international community must strive to deliver justice to victims of human rights violations and abuses wherever they occur and ensure that those found to be responsible for such crimes are brought to justice.”
“SERAP strongly believes that the holding of a special session on the violence and killings apparently by herdsmen in Benue State and elsewhere in Nigeria would contribute to a speedy end to the problem, and to peace and greater respect for human rights of farmers and their families as well as other citizens.”
“The holding of a special session on the killings in Benue State will be consistent with the practice of the Human Rights Council regarding its previous special sessions on the Occupied Palestinian Territories; Lebanon; Darfur; Myanmar; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Global Food Crisis and the Global Economic and Financial Crises, among others.”
Nollywood actress, Meg Otanwa who dumped banking for acting, has questioned President Muhammadu Buhari over the recent herdsmen invasion in Benue State. The multi-lingual actress
famous for her role as Aisha in the ground breaking TV series BEFORE 30, revealed that she lost her cousin, in the hands of the same herdsmen.
Meg revealed her travails in her Bella Naija article saying:” In June of 2017, I lost my cousin, Sunday Fabian Otanwa, in the hands of these same herdsmen in Makurdi. Sunday was in the police force, he was deployed to a village to protect the people. He and his colleagues became a target for the herdsmen, they launched another attack just to kill the security personnel in the villages. Sunday was killed.Please tell me Mr President, are we second class Nigerians? Why must we continue to suffer in the hands of these faceless barbaric criminals? They come to kill and claim our ancestral land.
“The people of Benue State are predominantly farmers. That is what they know. Benue State did not become “the Food Basket of the nation” for nothing. Farming is the means of livelihood for most people in Benue State. So when they attack our crops, they attack our very existence.The Open Grazing Prohibition and Establishment of Ranches law has been signed since May 2017. So why are we still left to fight these criminals off our lands? These attacks and killings have persisted and worsened over the years in places as disparate as Plateau, Kaduna, Enugu among other parts of the country.
She urged the President to take prompt action by deploying the army to protect and secure Benue , Kaduna, Plateau and Enugu.
“Mr President Sir, with all due respect, we do not need your condolences anymore. We’ve received enough of that for over 20 plus years. Open grazing is now against the law. The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has cried out to the federal government for help. He is not the Commander In Chief; you are, sir. So please deploy the army to protect and secure Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Enugu and every other part of Nigeria that has experienced these vicious attacks and yet still remains under threat”.
The police say they have deployed additional five units to Benue and Rivers States, days after dozens of people were killed in the two states.
At least 20 people died in two Benue communities when herdsmen raided the towns, while 17 people were shot dead in Rivers by gunmen on New Year’s eve.
A police statement on Saturday said the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has approved the deployment of five additional units to the affected areas.
They include mobile police special forces, police aerial surveillance helicopters and special police joint intelligence and investigation teams.
The statement signed by the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said the commissioners of police and police personnel in the affected states were placed on alert.
Mr. Moshood said the deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations was dispatched to Benue to coordinate and supervise the implementation of the new security strategies put in place by the force.
The spokesman said that conventional police personnel, Counter Terrorism Unit, Police Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD) teams were also deployed to Benue and Rivers to work with the personnel on the ground.
He said the deployments were to bring new energy to the efforts to end attacks in those states.
He said that eight suspected gunmen arrested at the scene of the killings in Benue were being prosecuted.
The other two suspects arrested at a different scenes of crime were being arraigned in court.
He said the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 4, Makurdi, and Zone 6, Calabar, were mandated by the IGP to convene meetings in the affected states.
Mr. Moshood said they were also to supervise police investigation and intelligence teams, and other police special squads deployed to the two states.
“The Force implores the people to be vigilant and security conscious. They should promptly report suspicious acts or persons to the nearest police detachment or station for prompt action to avert untoward incidents,” he said.
NAN
Suspected herdsmen on yesterday killed 11 persons in a fresh attack on Tombu village in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.
The state governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, confirmed the renewed killings shortly after an emergency meeting with the joint socio-cultural groups in the state.
“Two days back, four persons were killed in Guma Local Government, and this has continued,” he said.
Governor Ortom commended the heavy presence of the police as well as the military in the state in a bid to prevent a reoccurrence of such incident.
He, however, lamented that more than 40,000 people have been displaced for fear of unprovoked attacks.
“We appreciate the fact that now we have the massive presence of the police, we have an additional deployment of the military.
“They are on ground and deployment is being done; we are also providing logistics to ensure that these do not continue. As at now, over 40,000 people have been displaced and we are still counting.”
Meanwhile, the police are yet to confirm the attack.
Socio-cultural groups in Benue have also challenged the leadership of the Nigeria Police to visit Tombu village to be sure that the series of attacks carried out in the state were beyond communal crises as claimed.
Spokespersons for the group and President General of Mzough U-Tiv, Mr Edward Ujege, called on the United Nations and the international community to come to the rescue of Benue indigenes.
“Benue people are law-abiding and have remained so even in the face of frequent armed provoked attack by the herdsmen.
“We want any assistance from anywhere in the world to avert the killings in Benue State. And we are calling on the United Nations, United States, European Union, African Union, and any other person to come to our aids,” Ujege said.
Tombu village was attacked barely 24 hours after the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the killings in Benue, Rivers and other parts of the country.
Mr Idris had told State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja that the police were working hard to address the issues.
He attributed the crises to communal misunderstanding in the affected communities and maintained that “Nigeria is well secured”.
Socio-cultural groups in Benue have called on the United Nations and the International community to come to the rescue of Benue indigenes over the spate of killings in the State.
Spokespersons for the group and President General of Mzough U-Tiv, Edward Ujege, made this known to newsmen after an emergency meeting with Governor Samuel Ortom.
“Benue people are law-abiding and have remained so even in the face of frequent armed provoked attack by the herdsmen.
“We want any assistance from anywhere in the world to avert the killings in Benue State. And we are calling on the United Nations, United States, European Union, African Union, and any other person to come to our aids,” Ujege said.
Ujege also challenged the Nigeria Police to visit Tombu village to be sure that the series of attacks carried out in the state were beyond communal crises as claimed.
A member representing Logo Constituency in Benue House of Assembly, Hon. Terna-Kester Kyenge, on Saturday urged the Federal Government to declare violent Fulani herdsmen as terrorists and also treat them as such.
His appeal was contained in a statement that he issued to The Nation in Abuja, demanding the State and Federal Government to declare a two-day of national mourning of the victims that the Fulani herdsmen allegedly massacred in the state.
He asked the President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy sufficient security personnel in the effected areas to forestall any re-occurrence of the onslaught and make the perpetrators to face the law.
His words: “We are in deed in a State of Emergency and I demand that the Benue State and Federal governments declare 2 days of national mourning and move decisively and with utmost dispatch as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy sufficient security personnel in the effected areas to forestall any repeat of these attacks and for once arrest and bring perpetrators to justice.
“We also demand that the Federal Government declare Fulani herdsmen perpetrating violence against farmers across the country as terrorists and treat them as such.”
Kyenge titled his dirge and tears invoking statement : “May the blood and tears of victims of suspected herdsmen attack in Benue not flow in vain.”
According to him, like the killers, his massacred people and all humans have the right to live.
Calling on the global community to help guarantee the lives of his people, the lawmaker pointed out that their right to live is guaranteed under the Nigerian law and universal charter of human rights.
He insisted that “We will from this day not hold our peace and die in silence any longer, but will tell to the whole world our agony and the terror visited on us by a force propelled solely towards our destruction.
“Reason and justice may not appeal to the herdsmen hacking our people to death with such wanton abandon, but we will cry out to the world and show our wounds for all to see. Then, perhaps, then will the blood of our fallen loved ones and our tears not flow in vain.”
He said that as a representative of his people he appreciates that every single death diminishes them collectively.
He added that “I am impoverished and have never felt this damned and unsettled as continuously hapless constituents are hounded, villages razed and ancestral farm lands sacked while government gropes endlessly for solutions.”
The statement reads in part: “From Tse Akenawe, to Tse Verinumbe, to Tse Orveren, to Jootar, to Tyogbenda Anyiin communities in Gambe-Tiev, Logo to Tomatar near Tse Abi, Nongov in Guma Local Government Areas, it has been sustained attacks and killings as the statistics swell with daily harvest of tons of corpses from surrounding environs.
“These settlements have been reduced to ghost habitations with huge numbers of displaced old, women and children trekking aimlessly with neither food, water nor shelter.
“This is in deed one invasion too many, and the deafening silence hovering over it from the top must be broken now and for good.
“Once again, as I commiserate with HE Samuel Ortom and the government and peace loving people of Benue State and particularly helpless Logo State Constituents in our season of collective grief and great loss, I pledge on my oath that I will not relent in my resolve to fight to get justice for my constituents. I will continue to collaborate with agencies and actors of government to bring lasting peace and succor to my people.”
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Friday maintained that despite the current security challenges, Nigeria is well secured.
The IGP said this after a closed-door meeting President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The IGP Idris briefed journalists on his discussion with the president.
When asked if he believes there is breakdown of law and order in different parts of the country, Mr. Idris said he thinks “Nigeria is well secured.”
Dozens of people were killed in separate attacks in Rivers and Benue in the new year. While that of Rivers is linked to cult violence; that of Benue is believed to have been carried out by herdsmen on farming communities.
Read the full question and answer session the police chief had with journalists below.
Q: What was the meeting with Mr. President about?
IGP: You know any time we meet Mr. President, you know the area of discussion is how to have effective security of the Nation.
Q: What are you doing about Benue?
IGP: You know I deployed my DIG there yesterday and you know we have different stages of police, you have the AIG in Benue, Commissioner of Police in Benue and all of them are putting their heads together to see how we address this issue of community problems in Benue.
Q: There seems to be break down of law and order in the different parts of the country at the same time – Rivers, Benue, Kaduna,
IGP: Obviously I think Nigeria is well secured you have to be frank with us.
Q: Really?
IGP: Yes.
Q: Why do you think herdsmen killings is escalating in parts of the country?
IGP: Like I said, you know we have different levels of police in this country. We have the Commissioner of Police in Benue, the AIG of Police in Benue, and yesterday I deployed my DIG operations there and definitely we are doing all we can to see we maintain law and order in all parts of the country.
Q: The police has been accused of being reactionary rather than proactive to stop the killings, how do you react?
IGP: Let’s use the example of Benue, you know most of these states where you have several languages, you know is an issue of communal misunderstanding. I think what we should be praying for is for Nigerians to learn to live in peace with each other, I think is very important.
Q: What did the president say after briefing him, was he happy with you or gave you a new charge?
IGP: Of course every time we meet with the President he gives a charge. He said that we should go and take care and ensure that we tighten our security.
Q: Any new measures you are deploying soon?
IGP: There are so many measures. For instance in Benue we are going to deploy more units to support the efforts the police is making in the state to ensure we have adequate protection to the men and communities and members.
Q: Are you assuring Nigerians that this will not repeat itself?
IGP: Of course we are assuring that this will not repeat itself.
Q: Is the country under-policed?
IGP: I cannot say Nigeria is under-policed.
Q: Maybe the question should be is the police overwhelmed?
IGP: We cannot be overwhelmed.
Q: Did you say that the Benue killings is that of communal crisis? We all know is herdsmen killing farmers.
IGP: Obviously it is communal crisis, herdsmen are part of the community. They are Nigerians and are part of the community are they not?
Q: On arrest of an online publisher by SARS, was that on your orders because he published something against you?
IGP: Anyway I don’t need to send anybody but whenever you commit an offense it is our duty to ensure that we respond.