By Adebayo Animasaun
*We know the killers say victims, military sources
*Fulani herdsmen attacked us a few days after peace talks – Gashish District Head
*Victims unsure government can give them justice
Over 200 killed! The Berom community in Plateau State are still counting their losses in the mayhem that befell them on Friday, June 23, 2018.
As horrendous as the last attack was, it wasn’t the first time Plateau State was witnessing this kind of killings – killer Fulani herdsmen and the people of Berom had been locked in crisis for over two decades.
According to reports, the tussle has been over the ownership of Jos and claims to ‘indigene’ status between the native tribes and nomadic Fulani herdsmen.
The Berom nation, one of the largest tribes in Plateau, have never hidden their displeasure with the Fulanis who they see as intruders and land grabbers.
The Fulani, on the other hand, are almost always at war with the Berom people on the grounds that they rustle their cows and hinder the spread of their trade.
However, the silence and little attention given to the issue by the government with regards to ensuring justice is what the victims see as alarming.
While news reports and victims’ testimonies from both sides have confirmed that the perpetrators of the heinous attack are enemies living within, the federal government has described the killers as aliens. As such, while victims continue to count their losses and live in agony, their attackers roam free and the battle for supremacy goes on unend.
TheNewsGuru.com’s correspondent visited some of the ‘no-go areas’ in the troubled Plateau to unravel the mystery surrounding the faceless stealing of cows and beam a searchlight on the unknown killer herdsmen who reportedly snuff out life of innocent souls.
*Fulani herdsmen attacked us a few days after peace talks – Gashish District Head
Investigations by TNG revealed that there had been peace talks between the warring Berom nation and Fulani herdsmen before the June 23rd massacre.
The Gashish District Head, Chief Mark Bwodeh, in an exclusive interview with TNG in Plateau, confirmed that both parties met on Wednesday, June 20th while the attack was launched on Saturday, June 23rd.
Bwodeh explained that efforts of the Berom nation at achieving peace with the Fulani herdsmen had always met a brick wall.
The district head also debunked allegations of cattle rustling among subjects in his district.
Bwodeh said, “As far as we are concerned, allegations of cattle rustling are baseless. We have never stolen anything from them (the Fulanis) to provoke their heinous attacks on us.
“However, information at our disposal has it that Fulani herdsmen invaded Fan District (another district in Barkin Ladi), entered people’s farms and grazed in their farmlands, and when these people challenged them, they ran away, leaving their cows behind.
“The Fan indigenes later slaughtered those cows. It was in the process of coming to retrieve them that they (the Fulanis) discovered they had all been slaughtered. However, rather than revenge there in Fan, the Fulani Herdsmen headed straight to Gashish to murder our people who are innocent of the rustlings.”
In the wake of the violence, the Gashish head confirmed taking some deliberate reconciliatory steps to foster peace.
“I personally went to Fan District to ask them. They said they did not steal any cow and the Fan people are Beroms; they are our brothers,” Bwodeh added.
Who are the cattle rustlers?
TNG’s interaction with the Gashish district head, established that the big question in the Plateau debacle is about who the cattle rustlers are?
The ‘cattle rustlers’ are believed to be benefitting from the age-long battle between the Berom and Fulanis. And while cattle rustling remains the trigger for the herdsmen’s heinous acts, both Gashish and Fan residents have continued to deny allegations of being labelled cattle rustlers by the herders.
However, findings by our correspondent during and after his return from the Plateau trip revealed that most incidents of the cattle rustling happened in the Barkin Ladi Local Council, which is largely populated by the Berom.
On August 8, 2018, about 82 cows went missing after 109 were rustled around Kasa, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State where two Fulani travellers were killed on August 5.
Reacting to the said cow rustling incident, Barkin Ladi Secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Nigeria (MACBAN), Abubakar Gambo, who had earlier declined speaking with TheNewsGuru on the crisis, told newsmen that 27 of the 109 cattle were recovered by men of Operation Safe Haven who engaged the criminals in a shoot-out.
Gambo said the criminals were Berom youths who were armed with guns. He alleged that they harassed the cattle, sending them into different directions before leading them to Fan district of Barkin Ladi.
His words: “The young men tending to the cattle ran away when they heard the gunshots and saw the rustlers coming. They had to escape otherwise they would be killed, but they saw the youths, and they are Berom youths guiding the cattle into Fan district. When they contacted us, we immediately notified the sector 7 commander who sent his men but because they were few, they were only able to engage one group and recovered 27 while the others were moved into Fan.”
Operation Safe Haven Media and Information Officer, Major Adam Umar, confirmed the incident, but said men of the taskforce had recovered and handed over 27 to MACBAN leadership in the area.
He said although a group of the criminals had engaged security men, they had been forced to abandon 27 of the cattle and flee due to superior fire power of the taskforce.
“We are working with other security agencies as well as community and youth leaders to track the remaining cattle,” he said.
Cattle rustling at Fan, killings in Gashish
The embittered and visibly angry district head said the Fulani herdsmen admitted that their cattle were rustled at Fan but carried out their massive reprisal killings in Gashish despite their friendliness with them (the Fulanis).
Mark said the Fulanis did not deny responsibility for the killings in Gashish community. According to him, their sole aim of killing was to avenge the loss of their cows with as many human lives as possible.
“And when we sat with the Fulanis in Gashish District where the FOB (Forward Operational Base) Headquarters is, we asked them what was responsible for the killings in Gashish and they responded that it was because of what was happening in Fan, that they (Fan residents) stole their cows.
The Fulani herdsmen were people living with us before they started the gruesome attacks on innocent lives in Gashish,” Mark further explained.
According to the district leader, the peace talks earlier held with the Fulani herdsmen did not deter them from carrying out the massacres on Gashish soil whereas the rustling actually took place in Fan.
Mark recalled, “During the meeting we asked them, why didn’t they go to Fan where their cows were rustled. But they had no explanation. In that singular attack, about eleven villages were burnt and destroyed, with over 200 people killed.
In my village alone (Kashi), they killed 13. In Gindi Akwati (Ex-land), they killed 36. In Nghar village, they killed almost 84. We did a mass burial there. In Ruku, they killed 27. We also did a mass burial there.
As I speak, some corpses are yet to be found. That is for you to know the extent of the killings. After the killings, we wanted to take the bodies to town for people to see but security agencies at the scene did not grant us that; they restricted us from showing it to the world. And they want us to just bury them like that, so the world will never know that this is what is happening.”
*Both Berom, Fulani herdsmen culpable
A top military source in Plateau, who spoke to TheNewsGuru under the condition of anonymity on the controversy surrounding the killings, said the narrative mostly concealed from the public is that of cattle rustling.
He said, “Let me tell you the truth, you can’t understand this crisis if you don’t ask who the cattle rustlers are. Ignore all you hear from the Berom people. They will tell you Fulani herdsmen attacked them for no reason; that is not true.
“The truth is, most of the cattle rustlers are Berom. We get complaints from the herders association on their (cattle rustlers) activities. Sometimes, we wade in to help the Fulanis recover some of their stolen cows. There are even instances when a herder is killed in the course of a cattle rustler trying to steal from him (herder).”
The source cited that though the people of Gashish may have no grudge with the Fulani herdsmen, they might just be targeted by the rampaging herdsmen because the place is one of the areas in Plateau highly dominated by Berom people.
“The Fulanis that I know are well organised and tactical in their killings; they prefer to carry out their attack in areas where the impact will be mostly felt. It is just unfortunate that Gashish happened to be the place.”
Speaking on the case of the killer herdsmen, our source also admitted that most of the perpetrators were known but said the military had been cautioned not to be too hostile as that will further heighten the tension in the state.
Asked if the killer herdsmen were aliens, he replied, “We know some of them, in fact we have among them those who act as our informants. But our role here is to ensure peace and not to heighten the tension.
“We hold several peace meetings with the two parties, it is only unfortunate that whenever the crisis start, both the Berom people and Fulani herdsmen act out of control.”
Government promises intervention
The governor of the state, Simon Lalong in a state broadcast, shortly after the attacks, vowed to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.
In his words: “It is with deep sense of sorrow that I address you today, following the pockets of violent attacks on some communities in the state.”
According to the governor, “the unfortunate incident has led to loss of lives and properties. The resurgence of violence in Plateau is reprehensible. Yet, this is a stark reminder of the magnitude of peace and security challenges staring at us in the face.
“On behalf of the government of the state therefore, I commiserate with the families of those affected and pray that God, in his infinite mercies, will grant them eternal rest,” Lalong said in an emotion laden voice.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on an assessment visit to the state, said that those found culpable in the killings will be arrested and prosecuted. He had led the federal government delegation to ascertain the security situation after the gruesome murder of over 200 natives.
Osinbajo met with leaders and stakeholders in the State. The VP said he was directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to come to the state and see what the federal government could do to stop the killings. “It is disturbing that Plateau is in the news again for killings. President Buhari has ordered that those found culpable should be arrested and prosecuted. This is condemnable and the government would ensure that this is not allowed to happen again”, he declared.
President Buhari also visited the state to commiserate with the people. Speaking at an interactive session with stakeholders, Buhari urged traditional and community leaders to complement government efforts by persuading their constituencies to tolerate one another for peace and unity in the country. The president vowed not to relent in his responsibility to protect the lives and properties of every Nigerian, noting that he would not run away from it.
He said, ‘‘I will continue to pressurise members of the law enforcement agencies. About eight days ago, we had five hours of security meeting of the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police. What happened here in Jos is very bad. The question of leadership, from your household to whatever you are, is justice. The bottom line is justice. That is why wherever I go, I always appeal to the leadership of the communities and the law enforcement agencies to have control of their constituencies.”