Press Release
IT has become a regular occurrence to report how Fulani terrorists have turned Guma local government area into a cauldron of war.
The regularity of the attacks have become too gruesome and it is clear that they are enjoying the support of our neighbours. It is baffling that while we do not share a boundary with the Fulani, their access to our citizens has become a fact that is beyond a mystery.
They attack our people and run back to Nasarawa State where they are enjoying their freedom. It is a well known fact that the Fulani herders in Nasarawa State drive their cattle and sheep to Tiv farms and graze there and lie down to chew the curd. It is a well known fact. The Tiv in Nasarawa have given up on been protected by the state. Their farms have become fodder for Fulani livestock.
We make bold to accuse the Nasarawa state government of sponsoring these attacks on the people of Benue State. The boundary axis between Benue and Nasarawa States have been turned into a war zone up to the Taraba state junction.
Rukubi from Doma local government axis, connecting Yogbo and Udei. Nasarawa Toto to Agatu-Adapati Island down to Agagbe in Gwer West. Killer herdsmen sneak in from Giza in Obi local government to kill Benue farmers in Uikpiam, Tse Akenyi around Torkula and Umenger village to kill. From back of Yelwata now, there is Mbatoho Island in Makurdi which the Fulani have taken over. From Keana and Awe, the militia come and attack places like Ahentse, Tse Ortom, Tom Atar and Gbajimba. They also cross over to Logo. Some of the killer herdsmen are still camped in Tunga community in Awe local government where they cross into Guma and kill at will. From Agatu to the Tiv settlement areas along Awe local government area of Nasarawa state, there has been no peace for the Tiv. And it has been a well organized pogrom aimed at ethnic cleansing.
The federal government will have to be told that Nasarawa State is waging a war against Benue State and we wonder if it is political differences that are at play here. The Presidency will weigh the consequences of allowing a state to become a launching pad against another state. We are tired of it all.
When kites are decimating your chicken and your neighbour does not join in driving the kites, you know that he is part of the conspiracy. We know where the Fulani that attack and kill us come from. They do not have wings.
Just a month ago, on tenth of March 2022, there was a killing spree in Tse Torkula and other contiguous villages. About fifteen people were killed by the Fulani marauders and they scampered back into Nasarawa state and the people of Nzorov in Guma were left to bury their dead. These incidents were reported in the media but nothing has come out of it. The Fulani kill as it suits them. The police have no duty, the rag tag army sent there arrive after the event and it becomes a story for the birds, a regular occurrence that is part of the traumatic and tragic narrative. This has become as regular as the sun rises and sets every day. It must stop if we have a claim to call Benue State part of Nigeria.
As at yesterday, eleventh day of April, 2022, Fulani killers murdered five people in Daudu, a suburb of Makurdi the state capital. Some villagers were wounded and it is reprehensible that these people, because of their mental pressures die from their wounds.
We want to state clearly that we will not separate our killers from the people who harbour them. We have therefore declared Nasarawa State as the sworn enemy of Benue State and we call on the people of Benue State to consider Nasarawa state enemy territory. We also ask our people living there to consider Nasarawa enemy and dangerous territory.
Every citizen of this country should appreciate what Benue State is going through. Every day, our people get killed by the Fulani just because of our land. And our government has given the Fulani and other people a law to regulate the operation of ranches and the Fulani have unleashed horrendous violence and terror on the people and land claiming that the land is theirs and they would not be answerable to any restrictions.
The law enacted is to protect the land and encourage peace and harmony between all concerned, to prevent the scourging of the land up north because open grazing is responsible for half of what is wrong with the environment globally. The fight to repair the damage to the environment is global and beyond that, Benue state depends on its land for the survival of the people of this state and country.
It is the Fulani menace that brought food shortage to the country and we have been pushed to the wall. We will not retreat further. We will sacrifice our our blood for our land and we hold the federal government and its surrogate state Nasarawa responsible.
We call on the international community to take notice of our woes and consider the federal government as Russians in this new position while we remain Ukrainians. The similarity does not stop there. The federal government and the northern establishment have always used our blood to help themselves and deny us the spoils of the struggle. This must stop and the time is now.
This is a clear indication that we are on our own, but it is very important to still call on the federal government to try and end this crisis. We are centrally located in Nigeria and anarchy here will spell Doom to this country. May God Almighty help us.
Signed
Comr. Timothy Hembaor
President General,
Tiv Youth Organization TYO,
Worldwide.
Nasarawa Reporters 