Rt Hon Aliyu Akuh, a former Deputy Speaker and a member representing Omala Local Government Area in the Kogi State House of Assembly. Recently, his constituency was brutally attacked in which scores were killed including a traditional ruler, some are nursing various degrees of injuries while houses were completely burnt down. In this interview with Our Kogi State Correspondent, ATABOR JULIUS, he bares his mind on the wanton destruction to lives and properties of his people, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to move from body language to frontally confront the menace of fulani herdsmen and farmers clash across the country and other sundry issues. Excerpts:
Recently, your constituency Omala LGA and parts of Bassa and Dekina LGAs were attacked by the fulani herdsmen, what do you think could have been responsible for the mayhem.?
Well, one man by name Jodhua Angbulu was on his farm at Abejukolo , Headquarters of Omala Local Government Area was massacred and from all indications it pointed to the activities of the fulani herdsmen, because they have been asked to flood into Kogi State and maybe they are taking laws into their hands. That is exactly what happened. And their brutal attack is not limited to Omala alone but extended to Bassa and Dekina that have boundaries with Omala were not spared. These people went to Oganenigu and Ojuwoajomayigbi killed, maim and brunt down many houses and it was wanton in Agbenema in Omala LGA.
Fulani herdsmen have been a thorn in the most states of the North Central that is, Benue , Nasarawa, Taraba and one could be right to say it is now the turn of Kogi state. It has been a serious problems in Adamawa, Zamfara, and indeed Benue , Nassarawa and Taraba which the present Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari need to get at it strongly at the crops farmers and herders clashes , just as the Governor of Benue state Samuel Ortom used to say.
Yes, it has been a major problems in which the government should be ready to deal squarely with it. It is either we have to understudy , as they are talking about cattle ranching and the Fulani themselves are not making advances into creating ranches or negotiating for ranches, and to me it is a very difficult situation where farmers and herders were in constant clashes . I think the Federal Government has to stand up to this situation on our hands, rather than depending too much on body language which will not help the nation.
During the recent stakeholders meeting with the traditional rulers,farmers and Fulani herdsmen and other critical stakeholders held in government House lokoja last year, the latter complained bitterly against the Omala people and not long after, violent clashes erupted in the area .What is your take on this?
From their statement one can deduce that the herders who already had conceived issues were the aggressors, because if they can openly say that Omala is their problem which is why they have devised means to destroy Omala . And from what has happened, they were the ones that went to somebody’s farm to kill him and that was the beginning of the crisis. Maybe they thought that was how to solve the problem thereby creating more problems.
Omala people have been peaceful and they have been living peacefully with the fulanis for years , since they have not been aggressive this form, Omala people have been accommodating them. The entire Local Government Area is one of the most peaceful in the state. Omala is where you hardly hear of communal clashes , even armed robberies and other vices . I can beat my chest that Omala is the most peaceful in kogi state.
Recently National Assembly members and state legislators and some critical stakeholders from the Kogi East took a position against the proposed cattle colony on Igala soil. Is the position still subsisting.
Honestly it is true as you cannot take somebody’s property and you then give it to somebody else, it is not done anywhere in the world. If you want the fulani to come around, the cattle business is a private venture whereby the owner has to source for the means –how many colonies have they created for yam farmers– we have great farmers in kogi state why did the government not created yam colony in the state. Why creating colony for somebody doing his private business. Why not allow them to meet with the communities, if the government want to interface it should be subtle.
Kogi East for instance , does not have enough land to give to somebody for colony. Our people said they dont have the land and as their representatives they cried to us and we have to express it so that government too will know that whatever plan you are having concerning colony , grazing reserves or whatever , there is no land.If the place is fallow before, but with increased population and economic activities even sizes of an individual farms have also increased. Many lands have been taken over by infrastructural development. Communities have expanded thereby making land to shrink. And this is why , we the members just to forewarn the government that we dont have land for colonies and we know that, if it is for small holdings of cows and if you have your ranch which either you negotiate with government which will not take too much hecterage of land like we are hearing in other places. Therefore everybody now stay at peace and if there is anything like destruction of crops , you will know who is the owner of the ranch, and if he was the one that has let his cows into the farm, you will know how to approach him. We took this stand unbehalf of our people.
You and your colleagues from Dekina and Bassa moved a motion on the attack on some villages in your constituencies. What exactly did you seek to achieve with the development?
Well, there are so many issues in the motion.The plight of our people, right now , most of the villages have been deserted, moved to IDP camps , these camps are not a standard place , they moved to anywhere they seemed , it is safe for them to stay which means alot of families are scattered. They are hungry as they could not access their farms. There is no medical care , children no longer go to the schools and for these, we the representatives of our people were touched by their pligh so much that it has affected us in many ways. Definitely, you cannot sleep well no matter where you are when your house is not at peace.
As members, we too are not at peace, we were all concerned to ask the government to look into it and also to create an IDP whereby security , medical care and food would be provided. At this trying times for my people the government has to come to their aid and then we are calling on president Muhammadu Buhari that body language alone may not be able to solve this problem.
Government need to stand up and should be seemed to be fighting to bring peace between the farmers and herders and to build confidence in the people. But what is happening now, people will be disillusioned, and when people are disillusioned, then we have returned to the state of nature where life is brutish, short and anarchy reigns supreme.
It is a pity for the people to have laboured to build houses and just one day somebody will set it ablaze making the person homeless. It is unfortunate that at this 21st century, we are still talking of barbaric acts of coming to destroy somebody’s house/s to destroy lives or carry sophisticated weapons looking for human prey to kill. If the law enforcement agencies have no answers to it then, we are calling for anarchy which is not good for us as a nation. While other countries are advancing and we are here busy thinking how to kill ourselves or to carry arms to face each other just like in the primitive time. It is uncalled for, and my advice is for government to be alive to her responsibilities. let the people see and to have confidence that yes, the government is alive to her responsibilities.
How would you react to insinuation in some quarters politicians are responsible for the series of herders attacks on farmers in your areas?
Well , it depends on the angle they are talking from.Maybe, if you ask them as a journalist, they may tell you what they are saying, otherwise I do not see any thing political in the crisis. If you are in one political party are you going to incite this kind of troubles, are they saying that your members who are residents in that area cannot stay and sleep well?. This is an act perpetrated against everybody, if you have political elements in that area and they are crying for government attention, I do not know how somebody would say it is poltics. Those people alone need to give explanation of what they mean to the people.
What is you Your message to the government and the people on the destructions perpetrated by the herders?
They should pray daily to the almighty God for help. They should have confidence in the security agencies and to cooperate with them and later try to go back to their respective homes. And for those whose houses were burnt down or destroyed, as we have said in the motion. We are appealing to the government to come to their aid by providing relief materials to them so that they could pick up their lives again and for those who have lost their loved ones, I used this opportunity to commiserate with them.
Is there any hope that the herders would cease fire so soon?
Now that the security apparatus have been beefed up, we are calling on them to be committed to what they were instructed to do and even in performing their duties , they need to liaise with the communities so that they could build confidence in the people. Once you failed to build confidence in the communities, for instance, a village where there are soldiers and policemen and herdsmen will still come and destroy that same village, the people would lose confidence in the security. Even tomorrow you moved to another village and say come no more troubles they will not listen to you. Let the security personnel themselves should try as much as possible to demonstrate that confidence in the people.
