Between the hour of 3:00pm and 4:00pm of 2/2/2021, armed men suspected to be Fulani militias ambushed 2 natives of Irigwe around Dudu village of Miango, Bassa LGA of Plateau State. As a result,
Mr Raphael Bawa, 39 year old was shot dead while Mr Aga Mabo sustained grievous injuries and rushed to Anos hospital, where he gave up his ghost.
Anonymous local source has it that, “armed Fulani herdsmen came for grazing around Dundun area, not known to Mr. Raphael Bawa, who had 2 wives and 4 children, that there was an ambush on the road from market where he went and bought goods for his business. The Fulani herdsmen shot him dead, while Mr. Aga Mabo aged 40, who had a wife and child, was hit on his chest by bullet shot. He was rushed to Anos Hospital but couldn’t survived it,” he said.
In a further reaction, the source succinctly highlighted the utter neglect of crisis victims by constituted authorities in both past and recent times, stating that, “hundreds of our people have been killed, thousands displaced, houses razed down, farmed crops destroyed mischievously, leaving out orphans and vulnerable children as well as women unattended, all as a result of killer Fulani militias….” thereby making condition of life very unbearable to Irigwe natives who are either directly or indirectly affected.
The attacks appear to have lingered on as the militias keep maiming lives at will, and has mostly been unreported. It’s however worth noting that two teenagers namely, Amos Elisha and Daniel Sati of Jol Community in Riyom LGA were similarly ambushed on 26th day of January, 2021 resulting to the dead of Amose Elisha while Daniel Sati survived with grievous injuries, and yet no arrest has been made despite exhibits found at the scene. Pathetic again, 3 teenagers namely, Benjamin Thomas aged 17, Abednego Thomas 16, and Ezra Dalyop aged 17, all of Wereng-Rim in Riyom LGA were also ambushed resulting to the dead of Abednego Thomas who was harked dead by a group of Fulani militias along Bangai-Rim road on 3rd day of February, 2021.
Another dimension of the hostilities of the Fulani sustained over time has been the impoverishment of their unsuspecting victims by way of crops destruction, which is also one of the ongoing warfare adopted by the Fulanis. This act of criminality continues unabatedly as irrigation farmed crops in Jol, Sopp, Kum, Byei and Kwi among other communities are being massively mowed down and grazed upon on daily basis, suggestive of the fact of renewal of ethno-religious cleansing as well as high food insecurity in Plateau State which would invariably plunge everyone including children into abject poverty and economic hardships-malt nourishments that touch on all facets of life including education. Thus, survival of native inhabitants is at the mercy of the herders whose atrocious activities have become pervasive across Nigeria’s state without leaving out the Hausas in Zamfara and other parts of North-West States, South-West, Southeast and the Middle-Belt States with attendant effect of land grabbed arrogation flagrantly celebrated with impunity defying all legal frameworks in place.
With Government silence or at best, treating the deadly militias with kid-glove, the state of insecurity in the country, especially Plateau State has a potency of exacerbating higher than imagine, which may snowball into full scale terrorism if it’s not curbed in the bud.
It suffices to state that since Fulani militias or herdsmen have blatantly displayed a total disregard to sanctity of human life and socio-economic rights of every Nigerian irrespective of ethno-religious affiliations, ECCVN hereby re-echoes its voice, calling for a move in respect of a legislation allowing Nigerians to acquire weapons for exercise of self-defense maximally in the face of the ongoing hegemonic movement of the untamed Fulani militias over unsuspecting Nigerians.
There should also be a proscription of Fulani militias as terrorist since they have become deadly like Boko Haram that have dragged back the long established human and capital developments in this country.
By:
Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, Esq.
Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria-ECCVN
