TY Danjuma said that the killer herdsmen seem to enjoy the support of our security agents who he accused of not being neutral. I will tell 2 recent stories from Edo state which seem to support his point. Thread!
Story 1:
This happened recently in a place called Upper Sakponba in Benin City. There was a scuffle between Fulanis and Benin guys and one Benin guy was stabbed in the hand and rushed to a private clinic where he was treated for his wounds.
This happened recently in a place called Upper Sakponba in Benin City. There was a scuffle between Fulanis and Benin guys and one Benin guy was stabbed in the hand and rushed to a private clinic where he was treated for his wounds.
Shortly after he was discharged Policemen came and demanded why he was treated. The Doctor was summoned to the state CID to explain himself. After a few hours he was released with a stern warning.
A few days later the Benin boys retaliated. I do not know the exact casualties but what I know is that two badly injured Fulanis were brought to the same clinic. The Doctor based on his recent experience refused to treat them and asked that they go elsewhere.
To his amazement he got a call from the police asking him to treat the Fulanis immediately. Does this not look like partiality?
The partiality wouldn't have looked so bad if the Police did not proceed to send 5 heavily armed policemen to guard the clinic.
So the Benin guy doesn't need treatment and police protection in his own state but Fulanis need it and get it. This is partiality at its worst.
Story 2:
This one affected me personally. So I had a small farm in a village after Benin called Odighi. My farming partner has a larger portion of about 15 acres of water melon and about 5 acres of maize.
This one affected me personally. So I had a small farm in a village after Benin called Odighi. My farming partner has a larger portion of about 15 acres of water melon and about 5 acres of maize.
There used to be little fights in the past between the herdsmen and the villagers but for some years there was peace. Recently the Fulanis started acting up as if they felt they had become stronger and wanted to test their new found power.
Late last year tensions seemed to rise a bit between the two groups. The villagers were amazed when they got a letter from force headquarters of the police warning them to stop disturbing the herdsmen.
This was done without any investigation or any fair hearing for the Odighi people. They went to the Police at the state level and a meeting was fixed but the Fulanis did not bother to show up, on more than one occasion
A dispute later led to the shooting of two farmers by herdsmen. Both farmers recovered from their wound. To prevent any reprisal the herdsmen came out of the forest and had a shooting spree in an obvious show of force.
The village people I spoke with were terrified with the prolonged shooting of very sophisticated weapons and many fled the village. They abandoned their farms for fear of the herdsmen.
Odighi people embarked on protests to the governor and the House of Assembly. This was all over the news in Edo state and is verifiable. Sadly, nothing has been done and the Fulanis are still in the forest.
Meanwhile on a personal note my little farm is history. A small loss when compared to my friend who lost his whole water melon and maize farm. 20 acres in all, trampled and eaten by cows.
Same story for most of the farmers of Odighi. Security agents have done absolutely nothing but we know they will wake up from their coma once 1 Fulani is attacked.
During the dry season the herdsmen set fire on the damaged farms. I'm told that this is not the first time that herdsmen will be setting farms ablaze.
This Odighi story was a top story for a while and phone in programs on radio simply revealed that similar things were going on in so many communities across the state. Fulani lawlessness, destruction of farms, rape and murder.
No action from security agents until the villagers retaliate then they appear and harass the villagers as if the Fulanis are superior citizens. The number of phone calls from various parts of the state saying the same thing was shocking.
So please before you tell us what Danjuma did in 1966 listen to what Fulanis are doing in 2018.
I'm not a fan of Danjuma at all but the man spoke the absolute truth. Our Security agents are not neutral at all. They don't even bother to hide it.
If you listen to some of the comments by our Minister of Defense and the IG you will understand that those men have taken a side in the matter.
That we had to beg, criticise and wail before Buhari reluctantly visited victims of Fulani attacks tell me that he is in sync with his IG and Minister of Defense.
From what I have seen for a while I am beginning to believe that all Fulanis are more equal than the rest of us. Have a great Sunday.
