Herders Attacks: Soyinka Wants FG To Seek Help Of International Communities
From Msughshima Andrew, Makurdi
Loading ...Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has advised the Federal Government to solicit the help and cooperation of the international communities if it cannot cope with the security challenges bedevilling the country.
Soyinka who gave the advice on Thursday in Makurdi when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Samuel Ortom said that he knew for sure that the international communities would come to the aid of Nigeria to enable it tackle its security challenges.
”Instead of treating the country of its cancerous disease rather it is ringworm that is rather being treated.
”The killings that are taking place in Benue and other states are targeted at ethnic cleansing and there is no other word to describe it than that,” he said.
He lamented that instead of hunting animals for food, the killer herdsmen are hunting human beings, describing the act as barbaric.
He further lamented that some people want to change the narrative that the killer herdsmen were Libyans and he queried who brought them, who keeps them and who funds them.
He pointed out that they kill and occupy people’s homes which clearly revealed their actual motive.
He also admonished the FG to give marching orders to the Fulani herdsmen that are occupying communities that are not theirs to vacate them in 48 hours.
”We have to come together to probe the ugly situation so that the impunity which is going on in the country for long will stop.
”If the President had visited any community where lives were lost due to the killings perpetrated by the armed Fulani herdsmen and give warnings, the killings would have stopped since”.
He said that the killings were sponsored by desperate politicians because of their selfish motives.
He said that the killings were not sporadic but well-coordinated and the people behind the killings should be identified for prosecution.
He said that the phenomenon was not new because it happened in Rwanda and other crisis ridden countries, so Nigerians ought to have learnt from Rwanda to avoid the situation turning into an epidemic.
Governor Spamuel Ortom in response thanked him for the solidarity visit, stating that he had always identified with the state in all situations especially calamities.
The governor said that Soyinka had told the whole world of what the state was going through particularly its security challenges.
”He at several fora demanded for justice for Benue people. Your voice is gold and you have not relented in adding your voice to what is happening to the state.
”What is happening to us is not a hidden agenda because the Fulani herdsmen through Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore had said at several fora that they want to take over the Benue valley and the attacks were also the continuation of the jihad which was truncated by the Benue people in 1804,” he said.
The governor stressed that he had all the evidence to buttress what he was saying and the armed herdsmen were perpetrating the heinous acts with impunity.
We do not want reprisal of any form but to completely depend on security operatives for lasting solutions.
”The people sponsoring the killings are Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore,” he said.
He lamented that three people that attended the mass burial of the two priests and 17 other parishioners were killed by the Fulani herdsmen while returning home.
”We will continue to demand for justice and believe that security agencies will live up to their responsibility by nipping the killings in d bud,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Charles Iornumbe, the state Chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) said that they were grateful to Ortom for creating an enabling environment for the association to thrive.
Iornumbe appreciated the governor for his supportive role especially financial assistance, stressing that he supported the association to hosts its National delegate meeting which was well attended by writers across the globe.
