By Yekeen Akinwale, Kingsley Obiejesi and Kunle Adebajo.
Illustration by Yinka Sanusi and Damilola Ojetunde
ON April 9, 2018, at the National Executive Committee meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari formally declared that he will seek a second term in office come 2019 general election, but between then and now, hundreds of lives have been lost in several violent attacks in different states, namely Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Yobe and others.
The Buhari government’s change mantra is hinged on three cardinal points: improved security, economic stability and anti-corruption. On these points, the federal government continues to insist that it has performed creditably well, even though realities on ground do not support these claims.
In the last two months and three weeks since he announced to re-contest, many Nigerians have lost their lives including security agents, leaving the rest of the population in a state of constant fear and anxiety.
Days before Buhari announced his intention to return to power, precisely March 20, 11 soldiers were killed in Birnin-Gwari area of Kaduna State, in what was believed to be a revenge attack following the killing of one Buharin Daji, said to be the leader of the bandits.
Then on April 13, four days after Buhari’s announcement, a police officer was killed by unknown gunmen in the same Birnin-Gwari while other people were abducted.
On April 28, several miners were killed after unknown gunmen opened fire on them at their mining site in Birnin-Gwari. Media reports put the number of casualties at 14.
Then came the massacre of Saturday, May 7, 2018 which saw about 58 persons killed in a midnight attack by suspected herdsmen. Reports later confirmed that the death toll rose to 71.
In response, the Kaduna State Government announced the establishment of a permanent battalion of the Nigerian Army in Birnin-Gwari, as well as the creation of a police Area Command and divisional police headquarters in the area to check the activities of the attackers. But, one week later, residents of the area still complained that kidnappings and violent crimes are still rife along the Birnin-Gwari/Kaduna expressway.
Four days later, the police paraded 56 suspects that were arrested in connection to the killings and kidnappings along the Birnin-Gwari road and other parts 0f Kaduna State.
Great News!!!
The @PoliceNG has paraded Fifty Six vicious Bandits and Criminal Militias responsible for several killings of innocent people, Kidnappings and Armed Robbery in Birnin Gwari Area of Kaduna State, to other Villages and Towns in Zamfara State. pic.twitter.com/Bn6BfkJLpk— Governor Kaduna (@GovKaduna) May 10, 2018
However, just four days ago, while residents of Kuriga village in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State were observing Jumaat prayer, suspected cattle rustlers attacked the community, killing three and injuring eight; though the police said only two people were killed.
While Nigerians continue to wonder what the attackers in Kaduna State, and other states of the federation really want, all eyes are on President Buhari, as the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces, to provide immediate solution to the myriads of security challenges bedevilling the nation.
KILLINGS IN ZAMFARA STATE
Perhaps, with exception of a few, almost all the 14 local governments in Zamfara state have witnessed attacks and mindless killings of innocent citizens by yet to be identified gunmen.
Precisely, 10 of the 14 local government areas in Zamfara State, − Maru, Tsafe, Maradun, Shinkafi, Anka, Bukuyum, Birnin Magaji, Zurmi and Kaura Namoda including Gusau, the state capital have witnessed kidnappings, robberies and killings.
It is not clear why the Federal Government has not considered a state of emergency for the state, especially with the admittance by the state governor, Abubakar Yari, that he was no longer the Chief Security Officer of Zamfara State.
“We have been facing serious security challenges over the years, but in spite of being governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, I cannot direct security officers on what to do nor sanction them when they err. As Chief Security Officer, the nomenclature is just a name,” Yari told journalists in Talata Marafa on June 15.
Yari said it was disheartening that killings in the state had continued in spite of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to security agencies to end the incessant blood-letting across the country.
According to him, since the President’s order, the killings have not stopped.
While many Nigerians, like Kabiru Marafa, senator representing Zamfara Senatorial District at the National Assembly, have blamed the killings in Zamfara on halfhearted approach of the Governor to the problem, others have castigated President Buhari’s general handling of issues relating to herdsmen attacks and cattle rustlers.
Marafa had called for the removal of the governor over his poor handling of the attacks in the state, and he was recently corroborated by Abdulrahman Dambazau, Minister of Interior, who at the opening of the 67th International Press Institute Congress on Thursday, June 21, 2018, in Abuja blamed Yari for the attacks in the state.
“Good governance is the final solution to the security challenges in Zamfara, it is not the number of soldiers,” Dambazau said.
But many Nigerians lay the bulk of the blame at the door step of President Buhari, who they argued, ought to have by now, replaced all the Service Chiefs with more result-oriented officers.
They contend that the President’s refusal or failure to fire his Service Chiefs is majorly responsible why insecurity persists in many parts of the country, particularly in the North.
116 KILLED IN FOUR MONTHS IN ZAMFARA
Between February and June 2018, a total of 116 people have been killed at different villages in Zamfara State and there seems to be no end to the killings.
On February 13, 2018, an encounter between hunters from Birani village in Zurmi Local Government and a herder they accosted in the bush with cattle and sheep suspected to have been stolen led to the death of 18 people the following day, February 14. The herder, who abandoned the cattle and sheep fled to Isah Local Government Area of Sokoto State to mobilize bandits for an attack on those who dispossessed him of the animals.
Three persons were on Wednesday March 28 killed in Bawan Daji village at Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara state.
The killing was perpetrated by gunmen who came in large numbers and attacked the village in the early hours of that day, shooting sporadically.
On April 12, the bandits attacked two villages in Anka Local Government Area of the state, killing at least 22 people.
The bandits attacked a mining site at Kuru-kuru village and also ambushed some people from the neighbouring Jarkuka village as they mobilized to bring help to Kuru-kuru.
A witness, Sadi Musa, said scores of people were killed at the mining site on Wednesday evening which forced the miners to flee for safety.
On April 20, it was reported that armed bandits operating with motor bikes killed 15 people in a community near the border with Kebbi State.
The armed bandits attacked Kabaro and two other villages in Maru Local Government Area of the state.
Thirteen people were killed on May 3 in the state as a result of clashes between cattle thieves and local civilian militia in Fankashi in Maru local government of the state.
May 26 was a bad day for people of Malikawa village, Gidan Goga district of Maradun local government area when gunmen invaded the village and killed about 30 persons in a fresh attack in Zamfara state.
The gunmen were said to have attacked and killed five persons who had gone to work on their farms and 25 others who wanted to retrieve their corpses for burial.
Mallam Makau, a resident of the area, was quoted saying the attackers refused to allow the residents to bury the victims. He said they attacked those who attended the funeral procession.
And barely one week after the killing of those 30 people at Malikawa village, 15 other people were on June 2, 2018 killed in Zakuna village in Anka Local Government.
34 DEAD IN TARABA IN 3 MONTHS
Only two days after Buhari declared interest to seek a second tenure, on April 11, there was an attack by armed bandits on Jandeikyula, a Tiv village in Wukari Local Government Area in Taraba state, which reportedly left 25 persons, including a soldier, dead.
“They invaded the village on Wednesday at 6pm and opened fire on innocent persons without provocation,” said Orbee Uchiv, former Special Adviser to late Governor Danbaba Suntai and an indigene of the village.
On April 14, Texas Chukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, informed journalists that the coordinators of the attack, Danasebe Gasama and Danjuma a.k.a. American, had been arrested.
Also, on Wednesday, May 9, nine persons were reportedly killed while three sustained “life-threatening injuries” following a suspected herdsmen attack in Tutuwa village, Ussa local government area, Taraba state.
According to Rimansikwe Karmahe, Chairman of the local government council, the attack took place at about 5am at a time residents of the village were on their way to church for a mid-week service.
… AND 132 DECEASED IN BENUE
On the same Wednesday night Taraba’s Jandeikyula was attacked by armed men, at least 41 persons were reportedly killed in two communities in Logo and Ukum Local Government Areas, Benue State, days after troops were withdrawn by the Nigerian Army.
A few days after this incident, on April 15, there was another attack by gunmen, during which a police team in Logo Local Government Area, Benue, was ambushed. Ultimately, ten officers were reported killed as a result of this.
On April 24, armed herdsmen assailed Ayar Mbalom community in the Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, and set fire to numerous houses and farmlands. The attack also led to the death of 19 persons, including two Catholic Priests, Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, and two school head teachers.
Less than 24 hours after this incident, fresh attacks were launched on three communities in Guma Local Government, leading to the death of at least 39 persons.
Four days earlier, 10 persons had been killed by herdsmen in the Guma Local Government Area, while houses were destroyed in Naka, Gwer Local Government Area, by men suspected to be military personnel who claimed to be searching for killers of a soldier.
Again on June 3, 2018, 13 persons were killed and several others injured owing to two separate attacks by herdsmen and suspected cultists, in Tseadough, Kwande Local Government Area, and Otukpo Local Government respectively.