Falae’s Farm Set Ablaze, Casualties Recorded in Another Adamawa Clash

The end of the conflict between farmers and herders of cattle in the country was nowhere in sight at the weekend, as men suspected to be herdsmen yesterday set ablaze the farm of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Chief Olu Falae, just as an unspecified number of persons were reportedly killed and homes destroyed in violent reprisals in Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

Falae’s farm is located in Ilado community in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The chief security officer (CSO) to the former SGF, Captain Moshood Raji, who confirmed the incident, said he (Raji) was notified of the incident by a policeman who was guarding the farm.

He said the incident happened around 4:00 pm.

Raji said the razed farm was an oil palm plantation but which also had cassava and yam produce.

At the time of this report, the CSO, who is a retired army captain, said he and some other people were on the way to the farm to assess the damage.

He said no one was attacked, as workers were not on the farm, being a Sunday.

When the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Ondo State command, Mr. Femi Joseph was contacted, he confirmed the incident, informing THISDAY that men of the command led by an area commander were already on the farm to investigate the cause of the fire.

Joseph said it was unfortunate that men of the fire service said they had no equipment to curtail the blaze.

Joseph, who said he could not confirm those who committed the act, added that investigations had commenced to unravel the cause of the incident.

In his reaction, Falae described the attack on his farm as deliberate and malicious.

He said the perpetrators had turned it into a yearly affair to attack his farm.

The farm of the former SGF and one-time presidential candidate of the defunct All Progressives Party (APP) in the 1999 election, has been attacked several times by herdsmen, who two years ago went as far as kidnapping him and holding him hostage for about five days.

Falae only secured his release from the kidnappers after an undisclosed amount of money was paid to his assailants.

The suspected kidnappers were eventually apprehended and are facing prosecution.

Reprisals in Adamawa

In another incident, an unspecified number of people were reportedly killed and many homes destroyed yesterday in violent reprisals between Fulani and Bachama communities in Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

The suspected Fulani herdsmen who invaded Kikon village in the early hours, shot sporadically while most villagers were asleep, according to eyewitnesses.

“The situation caused pandemonium, forcing all to run into the bushes for safety,” said a fleeing local, Ngurigon Yohanna.

However, the Bachama militia mobilised yesterday afternoon and launched counter-attacks on Dowayan-waja and Lure villages burning everything in sight.

Also on Friday, Boko Haram jihadists killed five people in an attack on a village in Adamawa State, a community leader and a local resident said.

A group of 10 militants stormed Kaya village at about 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) in the Madagali area late on Thursday and broke into two homes, killing four people.

Another resident was shot dead when he tried to come to the rescue of the victims, Maina Ularama, a former Madagali local government chairman, told AFP.

“Five people were shot dead last night by Boko Haram in Kaya village, three of them brothers living in the same house,” he said.

“They killed another person in a house close by. The fifth victim was killed when he rush towards the area to rescue the victims after hearing their cries for help.”

Samson Lawan, who lives in Kaya, gave a similar account. He said the gunmen looted medical supplies at the village clinic before fleeing into the bush.

“They were overheard saying telling one of them who wanted to set fire to homes that they were not in the village for arson,” Lawan said.

Kaya village has been attacked before in the insurgency, which since 2009 has killed at least 20,000 in North-east Nigeria and displaced more than 2.6 million.

In June 2016 Boko Haram jihadists killed 18 mourners in an attack on the village. Adamawa was said to have been cleared of Boko Haram in late 2015, after they rampaged across the North-east, seizing towns and territory.

But attacks have continued in the north of the state, particularly around Madagali, which borders Borno State and the militants’ Sambisa Forest stronghold.

Influx of Foreign Terrorists

Even as several states in the country continue to reel from recurring attacks by so-called cattle herders, security service organisations, including the Department of State Services (DSS), have identified the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) as operating in some North-central and South-south states of the country.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this information was contained in a security report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari recently by the security service outfits.

Boko Haram, is an affiliate of the Islamic State and has been known to recruit foreigners in its reign of terror in the North-east.

The report indicated that the ISWA network was using foreign terrorists and recruiting young men to fight and kill innocent persons, ostensibly to exacerbate tensions along the county’s ethnic, religious and regional fault lines.

Quoting an unnamed presidency source, NAN reported that this discovery was made after the arrest of several of the suspected attackers made up of Fulani herdsmen, government-sponsored militias, militants and other miscreants in Benue Sate.

The source revealed that among those in custody were many who spoke none of the languages native to Nigeria but the French language.

“This is the first time that security officials have confirmed that the Islamic State in West Africa members are operating as a unit in Nigeria and the level of their penetration of the country,” the source added.

The source further revealed that a “good number” of the Islamic State terrorists had been arrested not only in the Benue valley but significantly in several towns in Edo State, specifically in Akoko-Edo, Okpella and Benin, as well as in Okene in Kogi State.

“It is understood that the cell, which has members in different parts of the country, concentrates on recruiting young men to fight for the Islamic State in West Africa by unleashing the cold-blooded murder of innocent citizens.

“There was intelligence that they had planned several attacks here, before and during Christmas and New Year holidays. Their bombing targets included fuel depots, foreign missions and police and military establishments.

“Their network is very wide. But so much was achieved by the DSS, which has made a significant number of arrests in the last two months that helped to preempt those attacks.

“This helped to save Nigeria from the spate of major terrorist attacks witnessed elsewhere that were syndicated by ISIS worldwide,” the source maintained.

It was gathered that the report submitted to the president also revealed that security officials were concerned over the influx of other ISIS members into many parts of the country.

“We are learning more and more about this complex and sophisticated network. This is the main reason why the secret service is not parading those suspects so far arrested.

“It has become clear to us now that the challenge facing this country is a serious one,” the presidency source said.

When contacted, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari had been receiving what he described as “report upon report on the situation in Benue and other states”.

According to him, the DSS has recorded a lot of success lately but he said he had not been briefed on any of the reports.

JNI Blasts CAN

Meanwhile, the umbrella body for Northern Muslims, the Jamatul Nasril Islam (JNI), headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has reacted to the attacks by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over the herdsmen-farmers’ conflict, accusing CAN of using the “herdsmen debacle as a franchise to perpetrate evil as witnessed in the Boko Haram tale”.

The group also accused some Christian leaders, particularly Bishop Matthew Kukah and Pastor David Oyedepo of smearing Muslims at the slightest opportunity, warning that the patience of Muslims should not be taken for foolishness, as their speeches were becoming really “provocative and outlandish.”

Addressing the press yesterday in Kaduna, the Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, said the herdsmen debacle was a coinage mischievously invented by CAN.

“The ‘herdsmen debacle’ must be understood for what it is: this was mischievously invented by CAN over time and its biased errand boys among media practitioners of stereotyping an ethnic group so as to achieve a pre-planned agenda,” Aliyu said.

The press conference was in reaction to the alleged provocative statements by the Secretary General of CAN, Dr. Musa Asake, last week over the attacks by herdsmen, particularly in Benue and Taraba States.

Aliyu said the statements made by the CAN secretary were “mendacious, provocative, full of blatant lies and misinformation, disinformation as well as seditious to the state”.

“Why is the whole herdsmen issue heightened now in 2018? Simple: CAN is unnecessarily overheating the polity because 2019 is around the corner.

“Our take is that CAN should better go and register as a political party and contest the elections if they want to test their popularity.

“We nonetheless make bold to say that CAN is deliberately covering up by using the ‘herdsmen debacle’ as a franchise to perpetrate evil as witnessed in the Boko Haram tale,” the JNI scribe alleged.

He said some Christian leaders had been promoting hate speech and calling for the killing of herdsmen “such as if you see a Fulani man kill him by Pastor Suleiman and crush them, kill them by Pastor Oyedepo”.

“The repercussion of such speeches could be better imagined. In addition, Bishop Kukah’s hate speech against Muslims in Nigeria was legendary, as hardly would the opportunity avail itself for him to talk without smearing Islam and Muslims in Nigeria.

“CAN and other Christian leaders such as Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Pastors Oyedepo, Suleiman and recently El-Buba should not take Nigerian Muslims’ patience for foolishness, as their speeches are becoming really provocative and outlandish.

“Therefore, CAN should desist from making provocative statements in the midst of the serious issues bedeviling the nation,” Aliyu warned.

He called on the federal government to be proactive in tackling the security challenges in the country, adding: “JNI advocates that government should be seen to be proactive on security matters.

“The recurrence of security upheavals such as kidnappings, armed robberies, rising bomb attacks of Boko Haram insurgents and ethnic violence here and there in Nigeria are alarming and there is urgent need for redress as citizens are becoming more and more agitated.

“Government should take the bull by the horn by prosecuting the promoters of hate speech in Nigeria, if not one day it will become the norm that cannot be challenged and one of the chief mongers of the hate speech is CAN as represented by Rev. Asake. Government should act fast before we are consumed by their induced conflagrations.

“To put the record straight, JNI condemns killings of innocent souls wherever they happen and whoever is involved.

“JNI also condemns the generalisation of criminals as representatives of the whole, thus leading to unjust stereotyping and name calling.

“We condemn all criminals whoever they are and wherever they come from. A criminal should be treated as a criminal regardless of his/her ethnicity.”

It went on to state that the federal government’s silence over the Numan massacre which was reportedly spearheaded by the Bechama Christian Militia (BCM) against Fulani Muslim settlements in Shafaran, Shawal, Gumara, Kikam and Kadamti villages all in Adamawa State on Monday 20th November 2017, was condemnable, adding that the perpetrators must be brought to book.

“The attack was said to have left more than 87 women and children dead on the spot and their animals, farms and settlements destroyed. Sadly, the media were either completely silent or, where they did report, they deliberately misreported the facts.

“Where in the world can this gruesome murder be perpetrated without catching the attention of the conscious? Likewise, the Mubi suicide attack which was well coordinated and carried out on Tuesday 21st November, 2017 during Salatus-Subh (early Morning Prayer) at the Mosque, by a teenage bomber killing not less than 50 people on the spot with scores injured.

“Equally, villages such as Kunturi, from Girei, Borrong and Luru from Demsa, Kotumso from Numan Local Government Areas of Adamawa State were all affected by the ethnic cleansing agenda. Why was government seemingly unconcerned? Is it because Muslims were the victims?” Aliyu demanded to know.

He noted that last June’s Mambilla massacre in Taraba State was another horrific narrative for Muslims, where over 800 people were annihilated, yet nothing was seen done by the government.

“Despite the glaring correspondence between Yusufu N. Akirikwen, the state Attorney General and the state Commissioner for Police dated 8/09/2017 to release all suspects within their custody. Therefore, we call on all concerned to make sure that justice is seen done.

“Similarly, security agencies as well as Benue State Government should be prevailed upon to produce well known rampaging militia kingpins such as Ghana and/or Tashaku, and many others who have been accused of killing hundreds of Tiv people and other innocent citizens in Benue State.

“The security agencies should also carry out the necessary investigation on the sources of arms of the so called livestock guards in Benue state, who had engaged in intimidation, extortion, forceful confiscation of cows and extra-judicial killings of innocent lives from November, 2017 to date.

“Government should note that Tashaku, the Benue vigilante group’s head is an escapee Boko Haram member as averred by Ahmed Salkida. Therefore, there is the urgent need for introspection on the promoters of crises in Nigeria,” the JNI stated.

JNI also expressed its sincere condolences to all the victims of the unfortunate killings and called on politicians and non-governmental organisations to be even handed in finding a lasting solution to the repeated, senseless killings.

“We also expect the Nigerian governments at all levels, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other stakeholders who recently visited Benue State to undertake similar visitations to areas where Fulani Muslims were killed and maimed such as Adamawa, Kaduna and Taraba States respectively,” JNI added.