By Peter Shankurah
Herders: Yesterday, the 18 people who were killed during the attacks on Mbaikyor community in Mbalom Council of Gwer East Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State by Fulani herdsmen were given a mass burial. But unsurprisingly, Governor Hyacinth Alia was absent! Instead, he asked his Deputy Samuel Ode to represent him.
Governor Alia has by this latest act, shown that he has no iota of respect for us the people of Gwer and he holds us in deep disdain. We are yet to forget the painful words of the Governor who accused our people of being the aggressors by rustling Fulani cows and selling the meat in wheelbarrows as the reason the herders attacked and killed them.
His words:
“On my way to this requiem mass, I received some news that some young people in Gwer East numbering 15 were killed last night by invaders. We now tried to find out properly what caused it. The other youths now rose to move to find out what the problems are. Some members of the youths rustled some cows, slaughtered them and they have them in the wheelbarrow and are selling around. When these acts are done, they come with a cost of loss of life.”
Recall that on the night of 7th March 2024, armed herdsmen had attacked Mbaikyor community, where they killed some persons, including a retired army officer.
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It was the first time in the history of this country that a sitting governor would show lack of compassion when his own people were lying in the pool of their blood from the sword of the enemy and rather chose to explain why the enemy had to strike!
But Alia was making no mistake. He knew exactly what he was doing. It was deliberate and consistent. Those lines have been part of his speeches even before he became governor. But the question is, how does a governor who accuses his people of being their killers expect them to help him to solve the problem of insecurity?
We in Gwer do not deserve this show of disrespect that Governor Alia is giving us. After accusing us of being cow rustlers, the least that the Governor could have done was to visit the area and see the level of destruction caused by the herders. But no, he snubbed our people because they do not deserve such “luxury of an honour” from the strongman.
We may not matter or be anything in the sight of Alia now but we are like the famous toad whom he has rejected now but will soon have no choice than to drink the water from the pond where we live. Only time shall tell.
Governor Alia has set the record as the first Nigerian governor who publicly and consistently accuses his people of attacking and killing themselves even when the aggressors have often taken responsibility of their atrocities.
Alia has literally become the spokesman for Fulani pastoralists. He exonerates them of blame and defends them against accusations better than they defend themselves. Nomadic Fulani do no wrong in the eyes of Hyacinth Alia. He says the herders only react when their cattle are rustled and he also says his people are the cattle rustlers. Each time Alia accuses his people of stealing Fulani cattle, he receives a pat on the back from the Sokoto Caliphate.
There are reports which are yet to be contravened that Fulani elites including governors raised about N7 billion with which they supported Alia’s 2023 election campaign.
When the pressure mounted on him by Benue people became unbearable as a result of the Fulani attacks, Governor Alia reluctantly declared a 14-day ultimatum for the herdsmen to leave the state with their cattle. And on the day the ultimatum elapsed and he was expected to move against the pastoralists, he stayed away and asked his Deputy Sam Ode to speak on his behalf. As expected, no action has been taken since the 14-days deadline expired and Fulani herders are still attacking, killing and sacking communities across the state.
Since the Benue state govenror returned from his visit to Sokoto State where he addressed the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar as “my daddy” after the Sultan described Tiv people as “cattle thieves”, Alia has abandoned the 14-day ultimatum given to the herders to leave the state.
Governor Alia is apparently serving the interests of Fulani and he is determined to help them become integrated into Benue State where they can own land and freely rear their cattle. Forget his belated pronouncements that the anti-open grazing law is in force. He will never enforce that law because doing so will be violating the deal he had with the Fulani oligarchy and his chances for a 2nd term will be in danger.
But I must say this! Governor Alia should take his Fulani friends to his village in Mbadede and give them land to occupy. There is no land in Gwer for open grazing. Even if he kills all of us, generations yet to come will resist the occupation of our land.
* Shankurah writes from Taraku
