First, we must unravel the Military factor in the ongoing carnage. Their complicity is real. But they cannot overcome nation-wide coordinated reprisal attacks in every endangered community. That's a disturbing reality that the Presidency and the Military wing of the cattle herders must not take lightly.
On March 17, 2016, about 76 youths and the physically active elders in Ugwuneshi community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, were whisked away and taken to Umuhia prison by members of the Nigerian Armed Forces on the rumor that they were PLANNING a revenge attack on cattle herders who have been terrorizing their farmlands for years and allegedly kidnapped two of their women a few days earlier. They were released about two weeks later. No accountability on record and no explanation or compensations for their ordeals. No one could give an account on who authorized the military invasion, and whether or not they were a contingent of the Nigerian Armed Forces. In spite of the fact that they came in Military trucks and fully dressed in military fatigue and took their captives to Umuhia Prison, the Military did not claim responsibility.
Analysis
In the history of insurgent attacks in the South East, Niger Delta, South West, and in the Middle-belt, it has never been reported that, but for the timely arrival or intervention of the military, many lives would have been lost. That has never been the case or the story. How then did they know that the people of Ogwuneshi was planning a reprisal attack? That's enough to warn you on whose side the Nigerian Armed Forces are, and why you must not trust them on issues concerning the herders and local farmers.
On February 14, 2018, one Efe, the head of a vigilante group in a village near Benin City was shot to death execution-style by a member of the Nigerian Armed Forces. That's not the end of the story. The tragic event was exacerbated when the apprehended headsmen who wreaked havoc on their farmlands were released by the Military Personnel who shot Efe to death. Efe was a target because he had the audacity to organize and to repel the incursions of herders into their farmlands. His death is an indictment of the Nigerian Armed Forces and a sure proof of their overt support of the Fulani Cattle Herders in their conquering mission.
In the history of insurgent attacks in the South East, Niger Delta, South West, and in the Middle-belt, it has never been reported that, but for the timely arrival or intervention of the military, many lives would have been lost. That has never been the case or the story. How then did they know that the people of Ogwuneshi was planning a reprisal attack? That's enough to warn you on whose side the Nigerian Armed Forces are, and why you must not trust them on issues concerning the herders and local farmers.
On February 14, 2018, one Efe, the head of a vigilante group in a village near Benin City was shot to death execution-style by a member of the Nigerian Armed Forces. That's not the end of the story. The tragic event was exacerbated when the apprehended headsmen who wreaked havoc on their farmlands were released by the Military Personnel who shot Efe to death. Efe was a target because he had the audacity to organize and to repel the incursions of herders into their farmlands. His death is an indictment of the Nigerian Armed Forces and a sure proof of their overt support of the Fulani Cattle Herders in their conquering mission.
The question remains: can the Nigerian Armed Forces execute or replicate such a cowardly preemptive measure throughout Nigeria, in the event of real planning or reprisal attacks by community leaders and the youths? I'm not so sure. Unless, of course, the faceless cabal within the Nigerian Armed Forces is courting a mutiny in the army. Because non-Fulani, as well as all the members of the Nigerian Armed Forces who are not sympathetic to the Herders, will rise to defend the Armed Forces. That's a reality we cannot ignore, and that's what motivates this essay.
Two Governors are now on records, stating that they alerted the IGP, the Presidency and the State Commissioner of Police of pending attacks and asked for protection. And on each occasion, no support came from the Police or the Army. The attackers came, killed every human being on sight and disappeared into the thin air, unapprehended.
On the other hand, with respect to the people of Ogwuneshi, the Army came uninvited and SUCCESSFULLY arrested all the men in the community who were allegedly PLANNING reprisal attacks. Only in Nigeria.
I'm not reporting news or doing news analysis here. I'm stating an opinion, to wit, in the event of such real planning or reprisal attacks on the cattle herders throughout the country, the entire Armed Forces of Nigeria cannot mount a preemption or defense that is sustainable and effective as they did in the East. The army will kill itself in the process.
President Buhari and his Security Advisers are wise enough not to bank on that strategy. That would be the fastest route to a mutiny in the Nigerian Armed Forces because those who are aiding and abetting the cattle herders within the Nigerian Military are in the minority.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The picture is very clear now. The goal is to invade, conquer, evacuate, and occupy. And the Governor of Benue State did not miss word articulating that. And that is defining the scope and extent of the resistance evolving nation-wide. Therefore, the Presidency must be wise, be on the alert, for the resistance is real. It is time to prevail on the Herders and call the colluding members of the Nigerian Armed Forces to order. If the killer-herders are non-Nigerians as their defenders are wont to argue, are the cattle owners non-Nigerians as well?
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THIS IS NOT FACEBOOK CRITICS LIKE US WHOM THEY ACCUSED OF TALKING HATE. THIS IS AN APC GOVERNOR OF A VICTIM STATE AT THE MERCY OF TERROR HERDSMEN, STATING IT AS IT IS. THE BUHARI FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS OUT FOR FORCEFUL OCCUPATION OF TERRITORIES. THEY ARE SAYING GIVE THE FULANI'S YOUR LAND OR FACE DEATH AT DECLINE. SANCO ESQ.
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