By Emeka Omeihe How did suspected herdsmen succeed in wreaking havoc on three Ebonyi communities despite assurances of safety given to them by their state government and security agencies?
That is the big puzzle the federal government has to untangle in penultimate Sunday’s massacre by suspected herdsmen of 15 innocent people in the Amagu, Amaokwe and Umunesha villages of Nkalaha, Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi state. The inquisition is made more compelling by indications that both the Ebonyi state government and the security agencies were privy to potential threats to law and order in the community prior to the unfortunate killings.
Why that threat could not be diffused such that it snowballed into the wanton killings and destructions witnessed in the three communities justifies a high-powered inquisition by the federal authorities. Accounts of what led to the killings are largely foggy. But it was said to be connected to alleged killing of some cows belonging to the herdsmen.
It is not certain the number of cows killed, the circumstance of the alleged killing and those behind them. But while some reports blame the so-called Eastern Security Network (ESN) others suspect they were done from within the communities. The alleged killings of the cows had led to schism between the herdsmen and the communities with attempts by all parties including the state government and security agencies to resolve the matter.
But these efforts hit the rocks when suspected herdsmen attacked the communities as residents went to church penultimate Sunday, killing those in sight, burning a total of 25 houses, yam barns and other valuable properties. Reports from residents after the attacks expressed displeasure on the handling of the crisis by agents of the state government and the security agencies. The pervading feeling is that the killings could have been averted had the state government and the security agencies taken the necessary preventive measures when threats of a possible attack by the herdsmen hovered on the air.
The traditional ruler of Nkalaha community, Igwe Thompson Ebe showed obvious frustrations as he threw some insight into the duration of the crisis and efforts made to stem the tide. He said the trouble started on January 20, and dragged to January 31, 2025.
“We have continued to mediate between the Agila in Benue state and the Fulani herdsmen. I even invited them to my house in Abakaliki to talk to them about the cows that were allegedly killed. We have even made some arrests to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book. As we were still talking, this ugly incident of killing took place on Sunday” the traditional said with regrets.
If the traditional ruler’s account of the duration of the crisis and the prospects it presented for possible resolution does not throw up serious challenges on the handling of its possible threat to law and order, that of residents on the roles of the Ebonyi state government and security agencies lend themselves to serious interrogation.
A community leader from area, Elder Simon Idenyi who spoke to the media had reasonable cause to accuse the state government and security agencies of aiding the herdsmen in the atrocities they committed. He said that on February 1st, officials of the Ebonyi state government, the military and police authorities came to them that they wanted to make peace between them and the Fulani herdsmen.
“After discussions with elders of the community including women, they told us that the problem we had with the Fulani herdsmen had been resolved. They encouraged us not to leave our houses that the government and security agencies are here to protect us. They assured us that nothing will happen to us”
“Regrettably, at about 9.30 am, strange faces we understood were Fulani herdsmen wielding AK-47 rifles and machetes surrounded the community and started killing anyone on sight and burning houses randomly. There was no security agent in sight while the carnage lasted. The attack started at 9.30 am and till they left the community around 3.30 pm, no single security agent came until around 5pm” he further lamented.
The community leader said the herdsmen took time to enter every nook and cranny to carry out their attack including a church where they killed two worshippers. Other residents alleged that security agencies left the area on Saturday only for the herdsmen to attack them the following day. Other allegations bordered on the seizure of their phones by soldiers preventing them from recording the gruesome killings with warnings of severe consequences should videos or pictures of the killings and destructions make their way into the social media space. “They (soldiers) later returned the phones after residents had recovered 10 corpses including that of a retired policeman” one other resident whose phone was seized recounted.
If the account of the meeting between officials of the state government, the military and the police during which they gave assurances of safety to the communities and asked them not to leave their homes is a true reflection of events, the eventual attack, killings and destructions raise serious questions. This is more so given their duration and magnitude.
The attack was said to have started around 9.30 am as people were in the churches and lasted till 3.30. That should give ample time for information to get to the relevant security agencies to respond to the challenge. It is surprising that the attacks could go on for that long without the authorities coming for the help of the defenceless communities. And if the security agencies were promptly on ground to contain the attack as insinuated in some quarters, the gravity of the killings and destruction of properties weakens such claims.
In an attack of the magnitude that took place in the three communities, one would have expected to hear of the arrest and neutralisation of some of the invaders by the security agencies as the mayhem was on. That would have served as a clear evidence to countermand the claims of residents. But nothing of such is of public knowledge.
Though the Deputy Governor of the state, Patricia Obila acknowledged that without the intervention of the security agencies, the casualty level would have been higher, she did not indicate at what point they arrived the scenes of the killings and culprits arrested for the heinous crimes.
But she could not have issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the security agencies to arrest the killers had some arrests been made in the course of the attacks. Frustrations were evident in her lamentations: “No government is happy to see their citizens being killed in a bloody manner. This is a horrific scene to behold. If you look at the corpses, they are a younger generation that were lost”
The Deputy governor hit the uncanny irony of the matter on the head when she lamented that most of the corpses lying out there did not even know what was happening- a reference to the alleged killing of cows that led to human killings and destruction of property. Incidentally, the killings in the Ebonyi communities epitomise the unfortunate fate of the country in disagreements between herders and host communities.
This is not the first time Ebonyi people have been mindlessly killed by suspected herdsmen over disagreements bordering on alleged destruction of farmlands, crops or the killings of cows. Unfortunately, in those earlier incidents just as in the present one, the invaders operated with an air of invincibility disappearing into the thin air after their atrocious escapades.
Neither were arrests made nor credible intelligence provided for unmasking the standing force avenging any alleged wrong to the herdsmen across the country. This seems to have emboldened those avenging perceived wrongs to the herdsmen into the mindless reprisal killings seen across the country. But this sordid profile only reinforces suspicion, resentment and conflict between host communities and the herders.
Opposition to grazing reserves, RUGA, grazing routes etc are spurred and reinforced by these attacks and killings and the inability of the security agencies to protect lives and property during such attacks. Before now, it was thought that the herdsmen were able to carry out the attacks and go scot-free because of the sympathy of the last regime to their cause.
But the killings have persisted though on a lower scale. President Tinubu has to do something substantially different to halt the frequent resort to lawlessness by suspected herdsmen each time there is disagreement between them and their host communities. It has become a huge national embarrassment that a group of people can easily go on rampage against their host communities killing and maiming them only to escape without any trace. There is definitely more to it than ordinarily meets the eyes.
Ebonyi state has also been home to sundry killings arising from community clashes that have had a dangerous toll on the lives of people of that state. The state government needs to do more to secure the lives and properties of its people. The last attack was largely preventable. Igwe Ebe made some positive interventions with some arrests. That window of peace ought to have been explored to the fullest. The state government, the military and the police equally reassured the people of their safety and asked them not to flee their homes. How were they taken unaware by the invaders leading to the killings and destructions of the magnitude seen in the communities the day after?
