FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE, DEVELOPMENT, AND PEACE UPDATE ON HERDMEN ATTACK AND ATROCITIES ON CHRISTIAN FARMERS IN BENUE STATE
The Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace is an ardent promoter of peaceful coexistence, social justice and empowering the vulnerable population. This principle is the core of the FJDP’s thematic areas and compass, it is on this note that the organization is invested in investigating and exposing the ills and vices targeted towards the vulnerable and displaced populations often perpetuated by external forces seeking to destabilize the people’s way of life and livelihood.
UPDATE ON THE 2ND JULY 2023
Ushahemba Aondowase was attacked and killed by Fulani Herdsmen in Nyiti settlement along Makurdi – Naka Road in Gwer West LGA was attacked.
UPDATE ON AMBUSH IN GWER EAST
On 30/6/2023 four motorists were ambushed along the Naka-Makurdi Road in Tse Tyolaha village, Gwer West LGA. Fortunately, no life was lost but the armed Herdsmen carted away with their motorcycles.
ANOTHER FORM OF ATTACK ON THE DISPLACED
The IDPs living in camps are people displaced from their homes by the Fulani menace, the people have left their homes and are now surviving on aid and donations from generous people and organizations. In the camps, the IDPs are known to face other forms of attack in the bid to feed their selves and their families. The recent form of attack on the displaced population is now the abduction of children under the age of 5 years old. Five children were reported missing in the Daudu camp and a three-year-old boy was abducted by unknown men at the Ichwa camp. This new form of attack on the IDPs is allegedly carried out by ritualists that lure the children with gifts and food, which is a known weakness for the displaced people. Men around the camp have raised alarm and become more security conscious about strange faces and vehicles in the concerned areas. This calls for the need to increase security around the camps and also to provide livelihood opportunities and food to the displaced to combat such attacks.
UNJUST ARREST OF YOUTH IN UDEI
As reported before, the situation in Udei is dire due to the continued arrests of youths in the village in connection to the death of some Fulanis that were grazing lands. The Peacekeeping security agents alleged that the youths are responsible for these deaths thus, unjustifiably arresting youths without proper cause. Recently, two youths were arrested and tortured by the Nigerian army and on the 23rd of June 2023, one Mr Jigoo a native of Ye was arrested by the security personnel without charge. The people are calling for the withdrawal of these security personnel from their already conflict-prone region.
UNSUCCESSFUL ABDUCTION OF NATIVES
The region of Yogbo around the axis of the Gungu Aze road has become a danger zone, the natives have been warned to stay away from the road but
many still prowl the road due to their commitments and farms in the area. Two persons on the 19th of June 2023 narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Fulani herdsmen that have become the don of the region. The armed Fulanis blocked the roads and attempted to abduct Monday Kwaghtser and Gilima Abul, fortunately, a group of soldiers were travelling the same route and happened to rescue them while they were being seized and dragged into the bush.
KILLED BY FULANI HERDSMEN
On 15/6/2023 three men namely Tavershima Ikyurav, Ushahemba Aondoana and an Igbo man whose name is yet to be
known, were attacked and killed in Abaji community of Moon Council ward, Kwande LGA.
ATTACK IN NAGI AND ANYAKPA
Timothy Teryange Atime (NKST Choir Master) alongside 3 others (names unknown) were shot and killed by Fulani herdsmen on 12/6/2023. The incident occurred in Camp Nagi and Anyakpa villages of Mbachohon council ward, Gwer West LGA. In the picture below, it can be seen how Timothy was brutally killed with gunshots and butchered to death with machetes. Mr. Tersoo Magah has become the latest victim of the ongoing Fulani killings in the Guma Local Government region of Benue State. The incident took place on Tuesday, June 4th, 2023, in Uikpam, Mbabai Council ward. The Uikpam community is home to thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have been deeply affected by the recent killing of Mr. Tersoo in the region. In other news, in Plateau state there was a series of targeted attacks on civilians by terrorists for the express purpose of displacement of the local population. We also look at the senseless killing of a mayor in Plateau state, in a continuation of the violence, and the Intersociety report that highlights more of the inequities experienced by Nigerians at the hands of law enforcement. Parents of children in Benue State Internally Displaced Peoples camps are trying to protect their children from being kidnapped by bandits roaming the area, for the purposes of rituals. In the latest report, “five children were reported missing in the
Daudu camp, and a three-year old boy was abducted by unknown men at the Ichwa camp. This new form of attack on the IDPs is allegedly carried
out by ritualists who lure the starving children with gifts and food. Men around the camp have raised the alarm and become more security-conscious
about strange faces and vehicles in the concerned area. This calls for the need to increase security around the camps and to provide livelihood
opportunities and food to the displaced to combat such attacks” according to a local priest close to the area. A local, Peter Ioryoosu, 36, suspects that his 4-year-old niece, Membe, might have been taken by ritualists. “We think they are kidnappers or ritualists. They saw a woman playing with the child around. Later she took the child and said she wanted to buy her something to eat, and, in the process, she took the child without reporting to the mother. At first, we thought they were lying until we couldn’t find her. We don’t know where they took her to, whether Gboko or Lafia.” According to His Grace, Archbishop
Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, bishop of Makurdi, the abduction of children, is only a partial representation of the violence being meted out against civilians. “I think I speak for all Christian communities in Nigeria when I say that our experience in Benue mirrors what is taking place across the country. The experience of the Nigerian Christians today can frighteningly be summed up as that of a church under a sustained strategy of Islamic intimidation and
persecution. We are like an endangered species. Between 2022-2023, 18 priests have died-within the period 2022 to May 2023, you have had about 140 attacks in Benue, and about 591 persons killed. The specter of ritualistic abductions simply worsens the crucifixion of Christians in Nigeria.”
Suspected terrorists have attacked villages in Tahoss and Jebu, in central Plateau state. According to an anonymous source, “the attackers are massing in the Fulani ethnic settlement of Bangai, approximately 4 miles from Tahoss. They are moving on motorbikes, 3 men to a bike and may number as many as 800. As far as we can tell, the residents of Tahoss and Jeby are sheltering in place. We sent the security alert to them around 18:20, the same time that we notified the Sector Six officers. They have neighborhood watchers armed with single-shot rifles, but they will be vastly outnumbered by the hundreds of attackers, if they do attack,” he said. “The terrorists deliberately attack when the weather is rainy, because they know the citizen guards typically don’t have raincoats and therefore fewer of them will stand guard after nightfall. The terrorists are targeting this area because it is well known for its rich farmland and abundant deposits of tin and minerals.
In further terrorist activity, Fulani militia in Zamfara state seem to be planning to attack villages and communities in the state, around 18, in a guerilla programme aimed to evict farmers and herders from the state. According to community leaders in the state, the goal of the programme is to displace the majority-Christian inhabitants and replace them with newcomers of the Islamic faith. Beginning in May, Muslim Mercenary units numbering more than
1000 began a systematic process of burning villages, killing men, women and children In Central plateau, and displacing survivors. On 1 July the targeted villages and towns are:
• Barkin Ladi County (Gassa-Ropp District; Chit and Tapo-Heipang District; Nding, Rawuru, Sagas, Sagasan, Nafan-Fan District)
• Riyom County (Kwi; Wereng Mining Camp; Wereng; Kum and Byei; Jol; Tashek; Taniol; Rim; and Sara ofGanawuri)
The militia leader, who himself comes from Riyom County, secured the services of the bandits. He is believed to be a person of interest in the violence in the state, but untouchable due to his close relationship with a high-profile political appointee. The influx of these bandits’ spells disaster for the local inhabitants, not least because they have declared a “no-harvest” period; threatening any and all farmers with death should they tend to their fields or harvest their crops, basically relegating the locals to hunger and starvation.
The mayor of a community in Plateau state, has been killed by bandits. Mr. Amos Akila, mayor of Mazat, was one of 7 victims of the bandits when they attacked villages recently. He was murdered on 27 June, while out farming on his plot in Barkin Ladi. Just hours after his killing, another 6 people were slaughtered about 10 miles away. According to his son, Mabweh Akila, who witnessed the incident: “They came on three motorcycles- three to one- all of them armed. They all had guns. They passed many people on their farms and left without hurting me or anyone else after firing several bullets to his chest.” This, just days after governor Caleb Mutfwang raised concerns about the increasing violence in his state, which hasclaimed the lives of at least 500 people since January. Alexandria Dyendi, a local resident: “The Fulanis burned all of our houses and we are completely helpless and homeless. “Sunday Dankaka, a local youth leader in Mangu, who witnessed some of the violence, said civilian guards tried to ward off the bandits as best they could,
with single-shot rifles. “They first came around 6pm and hid in the mountains surrounding the villages. We reported to security forces and started making local arrangements to ward off the threat but by 10pm, we started hearing gunshots. Our youths did their best, but one man and his son were killed in Kerang Tsoho, and four members of a family were killed in Konji before they could escape.” Senator Simon Mwadkwon, representative of Plateau state,
says “Communities are more vulnerable when the leader is killed. When the captain of the ship is dead, the ship is likely to sink. For him (Akila) to have been singled out and killed shows the killers planned this dastardly act.” Global rights activist, Dede Laugesen, calls on local and international bodies to intervene and help stop the violence “I think we ought to believe the political leaders speaking about the violence in Nigeria. As Plateau’s Governor Caleb
Mutfwang has claimed, the violence currently raging in his state, Benue and elsewhere in Nigeria is not farmer/herder clashes over tribal or ethnic loyalties and sparse resources. It is, without doubt, genocidal Jihad targeting peaceful, often sleeping or worshipping, Christian farmers with intent to exile them and take their property. Indeed, former Kaduna Governor Nasir Rufai recently confirmed these allegations in remarks made to a so-called ‘friendly’ audience. It’s way past time for the international community to stop giving cover to the jihadists at the helm in Nigeria and recognize the violence for what it is- the slaughter of Christians and any moderate Muslims who get in the way.” Judd Saul, head of Equipping the Persecuted, emphasized the senselessness of the violence, “there is no need for this senseless violence. Id like to plead with the leadership in the Nigerian government to stand
up and defend the innocent. The world is watching,” he says.
Intersociety has claimed that at least 3700 Nigerians have been arbitrarily arrested, and another 320 disappeared, in Imo state, in a two-year period of instability that has beset the country. It also counted a minimum of 1000 civilians killed, and 1400 homes destroyed in the period ranging January 2021 to June 2023, under the stewardship of Governor Hope Uzodinma. No fewer than 200 unarmed civilians were counted as being arrested under false charges
and some being tortured or even threatened with death while in custody. “the findings from comprehensive review of our Special Research and Investigative Report on Imo Mass Atrocities unveiled on 21st May 2023 have shown that not less than 100 unarmed civilians have been killed by military personnel and other rogue law enforcement agents between 7th June and 30th of June 2023, a period of 24 days and additional 230 civilian homes burned down, or wantonly destroyed-with thousands rendered homeless and forced to flee. The two worst hit areas are communities in Izombe and neighbouring others including Agwa Autonomous Community; all in Oguta Local Government Area as well as Amucha, Orlu, Njaba, Orsu and others under Orlu Zone of the state. While 80 of the slain 100 unarmed citizens were openly killed, 20 were killed in custody after having been abducted and disappeared. Not less than 200 unarmed citizens were arbitrarily arrested under false labeling and taken into custody where they’re most likely being tortured or threatened with custodial death. The Nigerian Military and Police authorities have also been detected trying to influence media reports by compromising a section of the media to change their atrocious conducts to ‘attacks carried by Unknown Gunmen or Members of the proscribed IPOB and its ESN terrorists.’ For instance, attempts have been made by the authorities of the deployed security forces to change the original media reports accusing the security forces of killing ‘at least 50 civilians and burning down of 170 civilian houses in Izombe and environs between 7th June and 19th June 2023. Therefore, in the past 30 months or January 2021 to 30th June 2023 under Hope Uzodinma as Imo Governor, a total of 1000 civilians have been killed, 3700 arbitrarily arrested and 320 disappeared without traces. Not less than 1400 civilian houses have also been burned down or wantonly destroyed and their 72000 occupants forced into homelessness and displacement during which at least 600000 members of the defenseless general population were forced to flee to avoid being class-criminalized, falsely profiled, abducted or arbitrarily arrested and detained without trial or killed and false-labeled. Seven of the eight armed nonstate actors operating in Imo state have killed at least 730 and abducted 940 others since then. Intersociety has severally investigated and found that victims of the Muslim-controlled security forces atrocities in Imo state are targeted on the grounds of their ethnicity, religion and identities.”
https://saharareporters.com/2023/07/02/1000-civilians-killed-1400-houses-razed-within-30-months-under-governor-uzodinma-imo
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