A coalition of civil society organisations has urged President Bola Tinubu to caution some politicians at the federal level who are escalating the crisis in Benue State, intending to instigate the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency.
They made the appeal on Sunday at a press conference in Abuja.
The CSOs under the aegis of the Coalition for Civil Society in Nigeria and Advocates of Social Justice warned that the wave of killings in the state is a result of a political power play.
Also, the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Mohammed Risku, has distanced the Fulani herdsmen in the Benue South Senatorial District from the increasing insecurity that has raised tensions in the area.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday in Makurdi, Risku said that every eye was on his members as being responsible for insecurity in the zone.
The MACBAN boss, who spoke in his local language and was interpreted by the State Secretary, Ibrahim Galma, “I’m surprised at what is happening these days. They are accusing the Fulani of kidnapping. I visited all the traditional rulers in Otukpo to allow us to form a peace committee comprising our youth so we can join hands and fight banditry together.
“If we join in the fight, I believe that there would be no hiding place for criminal elements. I’m begging the people in Otukpo, including the chairman and all security apparatus, to let us have a peace committee. It would be easy to trace these bad people.”
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the chief convener of the coalition, Igwe Ude-Umanta, said since the day the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal delivered judgment in favour of the elected councillors from the seven local government areas of Benue North-West Senatorial District, Zone B, hell had been let loose in Benue.
“Every day, there are pockets of killings, and there are rumours of the killings being sponsored by some lawmakers who constitute themselves as enemies of the state”, he said.
Ude-Umanta’s views were re-echoed by Guana Benjamin, Comrade Tijani Usman, Danielson Momoh, Abdulmumuni Tijani and Dr Alfred Audu Gbaja, all co-conveners.
The coalition said it was worrisome that people who were elected to serve the people were the ones also killing them indirectly, just to score political points.
“What will the people gain if they continue to lose their loved ones because you want a state of emergency declared in your own state? This must be stopped. Do they think that Nigerians would fold their arms and watch these few elements pull down the country?
“We call on the security agencies to immediately go after the serial killers in Benue State. Street and campus cults are being used while they will blame it on the state governor for failing to provide security, even though they know full well that state governors do not have control over security matters in Nigeria, but the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“These same characters would boldly tell the world that they are supporting Mr President, yet they are bastardising his administration and secretly sponsoring insecurity in Benue State.
“We make bold to say that Mr President has achieved so much in the area of security, and he should be supported by all well-meaning Nigerians to do more. We understand that if the security agencies did a thorough investigation of the killings in Benue, many politicians would go down, the coalition stated.
The group also alleged that some federal appointees and lawmakers were planning to mobilise over 20,000 people for a protest in Abuja.
“They orchestrated pockets of killings in Benue, and they want to amplify it to the FCT through a mass protest and cause civil unrest in the Nigerian seat of power. Security agencies should immediately investigate and charge anyone found involved with treasonable felonies, no matter how highly placed they are, before it is too late.
“We urge President Bola Tinubu to watch his back as the people in question are around the government, and they have access to funds and could do anything just to prove a point,” the coalition added.
The group also disclosed that it had received a letter from the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, “assuring us that actions are being taken on our petition against the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Maurice Ikpambese and Justice M. M. Adamu of the FCT High Court for judicial misconduct”.
Meanwhile, residents of Otukpo and nearby communities last Tuesday protested rising insecurity in the area.
The MACBAN chairman, Risku, stated that he had on several occasions visited traditional rulers in Otukpo, suggesting they set up a committee involving their youths to tackle the insecurity in the area.
He said that his members were ready to collaborate with the government, both at the state and local governments, to address the insecurity in the state.
“We have formed peace committees in Apa, Agatu, and Adoka, and those areas are now relatively calm. We want to replicate this success in Otukpo, but the community has rejected the idea, insisting they no longer want us around. As the leader of the Fulani, I was only appointed, but I don’t have the right to order my people out of the area,” he noted.
Risku claimed to have made several efforts to meet with the Otukpo LGA chairman without success.
“The security, traditional rulers and Otukpo chairman should call us to a roundtable. We have been hearing allegations against us, but nobody has called us about the matter.
“If we are allowed to participate in the fight against banditry, I believe we can flush out the bad eggs. But if the community refuses our offer, there is little we can do,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Otukpo LGA Chairman, Maxwell Ogiri, debunked the claim that he was inaccessible.
“So, the claim that attempts were made to meet with me is not true. However, there is someone I know who is said to be the Fulani leader in the zone, known as the Ardo. I have his number and have tried to reach out to him several times, but I could not get through. I later learned that he does not reside in Otukpo Local Government but somewhere in Ohimini,” Ogiri said
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