25052018 - BENUE KILLINGS: ETHNIC CLEANSING OR JIHAD? Soyinka, Northern leaders tango

Vanguard, FRIDAY,
MAY 25, 2018—5
POCKET CARTOON
2017 LEADERSHIP AWARD: HRH, Alh. Umaru Bubaram IBN Wuriwa Bauya, Emir of Pataskum
(Right), presenting Leadership Governor of the Year Award to Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake
Dicson, during Leadership 2017 Awards held in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.
BENUE KILLINGS: ETHNIC CLEANSING OR JIHAD?
Soyinka, Northern leaders tango
Continues from Page 1
administration was
treating the malaise as a
ringworm itch instead of
the deadly cancer it is.
Ortom, while
welcoming the solidarity
of the Nobel laureate,
affirmed that the threats
against the state were a
combination of ethnic
cleansing and jihad,
even as he lamented the
helplessness of the
people of the state.
The assertions,
however, did not find
currency with some
leading Northern
leaders who decried
Soyinka’s categorisation
of the troubles in Benue
State as ethnic
cleansing.
Among those who
disagreed with him were
Second Republic
lawmaker, Dr. Junaid
Mohammed; former
governor of old Kaduna
State, Alhaji Balarabe
Musa and Second
Republic presidential
adviser on National
Assembly Matters, Alhaji
Tanko Yakassai.
Prof. Soyinka visited
Ortom in Makurdi, the
Benue State capital, after
attending activities
marking the 35th
anniversary of Senator
Suemo Chia’s novel,
Adan Wade Kohol Ga,
written in Tiv language.
Cry for help
He said: “I don’t
believe in false pride, if
the government cannot
cope, it should not shy
away from asking for
international help.
“When human lives are
concerned in their
thousands and so on, as
it was observed
everywhere all over the
world, those nations
where our military has
served before can come
to our assistance. I think
there should be no
business of national
integrity, national pride
and so on.
“People are dying, this
government cannot
cope, please just ask for
international help and I
know they’re ready and
willing to come to our
aid.
“Just like refusal to
recognise, and at the
critical moment, the
nature of a particular
problem that has been
the basis of the
massacres going on in
this region, especially
Benue State, there’s no
other word for it.
“Let’s not play around
with the euphemisms.
It’s no other word but
ethnic cleansing.
There’s no other
definition for what has
been going on here. And
it’s very sad to me
personally to see that a
nation like Nigeria, with
so much human talent,
has failed to learn the
lesson of the history of
places like Rwanda.
“It happened in
Europe, ethnic cleansing
in Serbia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina and
elsewhere, so it’s not a
new phenomenon. And,
therefore, we should
have been able to learn
from the experiences of
others and stopped this
thing before it became
an epidemic which is
what it is today.”
Governor Ortom in his
response, said the recent
events in the state were
a combination of ethnic
cleansing and jihad.
Ethnic cleansing,
Jihad?
He said: “This is not a
hidden agenda, it’s
known, and those people
who are perpetrating it
did say it. They have not
hidden it. They held
press conferences, they
came out and said they
were going to resist our
law, that they were going
to do ethnic cleansing,
it’s about Jihad, it’s
about taking over the
land, it’s not about
herders and farmers’
clashes.
“They said it clearly,
and it’s written, and we
have the documents and
have reported them to
the security agencies. I
agree with you, but as
law-abiding citizens, we
don’t even have
cutlasses to fight back.
“We cannot use any
weapon to fight back; we
depend on the law
enforcement agencies.
Even the cutlasses that
we used to have were
taken over by security
agencies.
“Our dane guns, the
Inspector General (of
Police) said we should
surrender them,
including those that
were licensed. So we are
left in the hands of the
security men. Those of
Continues on Page 41
Buhari/Obasanjo face-off (2)
By Bose Adelaja & Ebun
Sessou
Ithink they both
have failed the
nation and the
sooner we are rid of
these selfish old
men, the better for
our polity. -Ogbede
Oluwatosin Selfemployed
Both Generals are
elder statesmen.
The real question we
should be asking is what
happened between 2015
and now? Both of them
are the only ones that
can proffer answers to
the above question.
However, there might be
a secret agreement
between both parties
because if not, why the
sudden disagreement
between them?
- Akinlolu Akinpelu
PR Expert
They are just
distracting
Nigerians. It could
be part of the
p r e s e n t
government's
agenda. Remember
that this government
is known for
distraction.
-Odimegwu
Onwumere
Media Expert
What goes around
surely comes
around. All who planned
against former President
Jonathan will get their pay
back. Look at what is
happening in Lagos.
Lagos APC has two
factions now. See what is
happening to Saraki and
Kwara Stae governor.
Obj forgot that the devil
you know is better than the
angel you don't know.
-Waheed Kareem
Worker
Only God is talk
and do, Obj
believes that anywhere
he wants Nigerians to
dance to, they must
dance to, but my belief is
that everybody knows
that in Nigeria today,
nothing is easy and
everything is costly due
to negligence of our
past leaders, but if God
knows that PMB is the
Salvation of this country,
he will surely enter
again in 2019; if not, he
will not.
-Mrs
Ganiyat
Self-employed
Akintunde
It is not good for our
democracy especially
at the time an average
Nigerian needs to look
up to the old men as
models.
However, the fresh
septuagenarian war will
equally educate us that
posterity speaks even
during the life-time of
the doer and we shall
finally know who is
corrupt between the two.
-Comrade Ishowo
Olanrewaju
Public Affairs Analyst