Terrorists in Nigeria Now Operate Under the Guise of Herdsmen

Terrorists in Nigeria now operate under the guise of herdsmen.

The constitution of an Administrative Panel by the Adamawa State Government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the intermittent attacks on the Kadomon, Koh and Tambo communities of the State did not come to us as a surprise since it has almost become a routine and painful tradition for governments to venture in to such actions without coming with a result oriented outcome.  

The Administrative Panel according to records available was constituted by government on the August 17, 2016 on the heels of the vicious attack and massacre of Kadomon inhabitants by the Fulani Militia in Demsa Local Government of Adamawa State.

The well co-ordinated attack which was carried out on the unfortunate community on August 1, 2016  left no fewer than twenty-five persons dead with several others wounded while the whole village was razed down by fire.  

The attack was preceded by another attack on the Tambo Community in Girei Local Government on July 13, 2016 by the same Fulani Militia who left on their trail three persons dead two others wounded. Another attack was successfully carried out by the same Militia on the Koh community in Girei Local Government on January 24, 2016. The attack recorded the largest number of casualties with over sixty people killed and several others wounded.

Several villages within the Koh enclave were burnt down to ashes. Within the span of seven months (January 24-August 1, 2016) a total of three vicious raids were carried out by the vicious Fulani Malitia without any record of arrests by Security Operatives. What an irony.  

The condemnable failure by the Security operatives to promptly respond to the attack and the absence of arrests has remained an unsolved riddle to this day. As a people, we are worried that with the plethora of attacks and the Security Reports before and during the attacks, the security operatives who have sworn to protect the Nigerian citizens failed woefully in their statutory obligations to neither defend the communities or arrest the attackers.

More disturbing is the Kadomon Attack which was carried out by the blood thirsty Fulani militia within the span of four days. The attack which started with the killings of three young men of the village on July 29, 2016 was successfully concluded on August 1, 2016 without the security operatives and the government raising a finger resulting to the massacre of twenty-five natives when the militia over ran Kadomon village and set it on fire in the process.

It may interest the public to know that prior to the major attack on August 1, 2016 members of the community had notified and invited the police to assist in the recovery of the corpses kept under the guard of the Fulani militia. Surprisingly, the Police who came to the village declined to confront the militia and abandoned the natives to their fate. They were said to have been provided with fuel for their vehicles when they gave excuses but they still refused to take on the Fulani militia.  

To add more salt to injury, the former State Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Ghazalli, who has since been removed; which we believe is more to protect, than to sanction, him, who chose to visit the scene after the final attack on August 1, 2016, told newsmen that there were no casualties recorded during the attack.  

We are worried that the State Commissioner of Police who had sworn to defend and protect the citizens deliberately refused to respond to the devastating emergency situation and to lie over the death of the citizens killed by the evil hands of Fulani militia. We still cannot fathom why the State Commissioner had to lie over the Kadomon massacre and to refuse to defend the people whose lives were in danger.

Apart from the fact that the Commissioner lied, he attributed his failure to defend the inhabitants from the attack of the Fulani militia to what he described as fear of possible accusation of taking side with a party involved in the conflict since according to him, the issue at hand was a case of communal clash. Is invading or attacking a community equal to community clash?  

The Police Commissioner has left us in no doubt of his true intentions and what he represents. Apparently by his action, he has not only endorsed the massacre of innocent and defenseless people but has taken side with one of the parties, an offence he didn’t want to commit as he wanted us to believe.  The Commissioner to our own understanding had systematically and perfectly aided the execution of part of a long term Agenda of the Fulani Race whose desire is to take over the land of the ethnic nationalities and to extend their dominance upon the people.

The Commissioner has exhibited the qualities of cruel monster with a streak of sadism running through his blood stream by making such a bestial and sadistic remark. His remark and action was nothing but an affront and a clear show of contempt and disrespect to the entire ethnic majority of the State whom for long had made immeasurable sacrifices to sustain the unity of the State in the wake of glaring manipulation, provocation and repression by a repressive race executing an agenda of dominance and expansion to take over the State by all cost.  

Perhaps, we need to admit that in the past, we have pretended and closed our eyes to this painful reality. We need to share this truth with other Nigerians. They need to know that this race craving for dominance and the expansion of its kingdom whose origin can be traced to Mali Republic does not constitute or own a single indigenous Local Government in Adamawa State.  It has become highly imperative to call on the Federal Government to take proactive measures to curtail the hostilities of Fulani militia and to defend local communities from their coordinated attacks.  

We have come to this painful reality and resolve that we can no longer trust the government with our security owing to our present circumstances and experiences. If the government fails in its statutory responsibility to protect other ethnic nationalities in the state who are the targets and victims of the so called Fulani militia, we will have to resort to seeking available means to defend our communities in the State.  

More importantly, we wish to state that the entire ethnic majority of Adamawa State has no confidence in the ability of the Administrative Panel Constituted by the government to resolve the emerging crises and coordinated killings of communities by Fulani militia.  

We do not believe in the sincerity and the capacity of the State Government to address the crippling situation created by the Fulani militia who attack communities under the guise of Herdsmen on the following grounds:  

1.     The government has betrayed the trust of all the ethnic nationalities in the state for opting for an Administrative Panel instead of a Judicial Commission of inquiry.  

2.     The government has failed in providing a convincing platform for the people to believe in its sincerity and commitment to fish out the perpetrators and masterminds of the perpetual killings of innocent citizens owing to government’s poor response prior and after the attacks by the Fulani militia. It has also failed to defend the affected community’s from the militia even when security reports were made available to it.  

3.     There are no assurances that the government is prepared to implement the findings of the committee. This is owing to the fact that the Bindow administration has done nothing up to this day on the report of the Bobbo Judicial Commission of Inquiry submitted to it even after his government had constituted a white paper committee on the report.  

In view of the issue raised above, we wish to make the following demands, observations and recommendations:

1.     Since the government has failed to show appreciable concern for the security of lives and property of the ethnic Nationalities in the State, the people now have to seek alternative means of protecting themselves against the terrorist activities of Fulani militia. The government has so far given the people enough reason to think that it cannot be trusted with the security of their lives.  

2.     Since the attacks on the communities have persisted, this is an open declaration of war against the ethnic Nationalities. By implication we now are forced to declare our territories as a danger zone for the Fulani race. We are not oblivious of the fact that any invasion of our communities by the Fulani militia is an action apparently coordinated by the indigenous Fulanis  living among us.  

3.     The Federal, State and Local government Authorities must hold Fulani leaders responsible for any coordinated attack by Fulani militia. This is because of our strong belief precipitated by our knowledge of the history of the Fulanis who cannot stir up an attack without the full endorsement by their leaders.  

4.      For the government to prove its sincerity in curbing the menace of Fulani militia in the state, it must bring to book Fulani leaders and the elements believed to be the masterminds of Koh, Tambo and Kadomon attacks.

5.     The Federal Government should hold the Adamawa State Government responsible for any breach of peace in the state if it fails to respect our decisions and demands.  

6. While we re-affirm our commitment to the peaceful co-existence of the state and respect for the rule of law, we should not be taken for granted by law enforcement agents who are sometimes used against the people seeking their rights and justice.  

GONGOLA ETHNIC NATIONALITIES DEVELOPMENT AGENDA (GENDA)  

Contacts: [email protected] & [email protected]