NAILING THE HERD

It seems some folks are obsessed about nailing the Fulani herdsmen as the perpetrators of the mayhem which allegedly occurred on Monday morning despite the lack of irrefutable proof of their involvement.

One Biafran themed blog went ahead on Tuesday to state that some people were displaced from an area in Delta state by Fulani herdsmen. They used a photo I had seen before during the height of the Agatu propaganda. Note that I don't dispute that Agatu happened; however the same kind of fabrication and use of unrelated images sourced from social media with respect to Enugu was also adopted by vested interests during the Agatu conflict. They used images of mass graves and mutilated bodies which were actually events that occurred in the Congo, Chad or south Sudan.

Several individuals have since Monday spread rumors of persistent attacks and one in particular posted a picture suggesting that a certain community was armed and ready to defend themselves. The comments on that thread were all about back slaps and high fives with many encouraging all inhabitants of a certain geo-political zone to do all they can to arm themselves to the cusps of their enamel for an inevitable war. The only problem with that post was that the image used had been used before especially a few years ago to tell the story of protesting Niger - Delta militants.

Some people are busy sipping soda and munching on prawn crackers behind their computers or mobile gizmos and using Nigeria to play ludo or their imagined version of war of clans. They know you will react spontaneously to emotionally charged information hence the use of gory images and ever morphing figures. They know you won't check and cross check the information they provide. They know how to override your common sense and send your mumu into overdrive.

Enugu state police command is part of zone 9 which consists of all southeast states save Ebonyi. From the Nigerian police website; there are over 14 million citizens resident in that zone and they have approximately 50,000 officers to maintain law and order in the four states. Let us take out all the cops serving as attaché to the political elite and their spouses; one can only imaging the actual number of officers available to respond to everyday security challenges.

Also from the police website is listed the several challenges that characterise the state of Enugu. These range from armed robbery to kidnapping and then to cultism. I do not think that Fulani herdsmen can be blamed for all these atrocities. I came across one or two links to stories from a few years ago about cult clashes in Enugu with extremely gory images of blasted heads with brain tissue splattered all over. I am not ascertaining that what happened on Monday were cult attacks but if the police think hoodlums who may or may not be herdsmen clashed in the boundary town, I wonder why some people opt to discredit the police but believe hook, line, sinker and bucket stories from blog sites and online media platforms with questionable integrity.

This affair needs a thorough investigation; I do not even want to go into the matter of whether the governor of Enugu called the president but was put on hold for hours. Some individuals who pride themselves as cerebral social commentators unfortunately allowed themselves to be used to spearhead a dangerous rumour even if they were simply asking questions.

Some people think Nigeria is a game or game which needs to be hunted and dismembered. A certain educated fellow stated on social social media that Nigeria must be divided and cannot be allowed to thrive. Don't get carried away by these distractions; always look at the big picture.

April 28, 2016

THE BLAME GAME

I'm sorry if I sound insensitive and if I don't buy into this FULANI HERDSMEN drama. The Fulani tribe in Nigeria cannot be said to be widely loved simply because history doesn't favor them. Many atrocities over the years have had them involved and more than a few other prominent tribes have remained eternally scarred by those times.

It has become fashionable to mention Fulani herdsmen in any discussion at the moment but I sense a conspiracy playing out and many in the media are helping to propagate the plot by not wanting to be left out of breaking news.

Just about every scene of violence in Nigeria now is attributed to Fulani herdsmen. From Agatu to Ondo and from Taraba to Enugu. One begins to wonder how herdsmen in search of pasture would leave their livestock safely at a distant site and then proceed in their hundreds to inflict mortal damage on mere farmers who denied them grazing.

The latest story today is from Enugu and it appears social media was saturated with rumors of an impending attack just a day before it allegedly happened. It seems those who pushed the news were hoping and praying for an attack on Enugu to validate their rumour that 500 herdsmen mostly from Nassarawa state were going to storm Enugu.

Within hours, an Enugu town was set ablaze with inhabitants scampering for safety in neighbouring towns. More than 20 were slain and security forces overpowered. Most of the prominent newspapers that carried the story on their social media platforms had similarly worded scripts and none seem to have quoted government officials or spokespersons of security agencies.

The usual anti-incumbent forces were tweeting and re tweeting screaming Islamization or ethnic cleansing depending on the effect they wanted to generate. A Biafra related handle even tagged Fulani herdsmen as Buhari's forces. Reno Omokri and Fayose's spokesman were not left out in having a go at the president and his team. Some were able to exhibit some restraint by searching for news on respected stations such as channels television but it didn't seem to come when they waited.

Some doubting Thomases demanded for proof and they got links to blog sites and several images of dead humans either stacked up in a truck or on the ground. Most of the images used on social media platforms including the more popular outfits had cattle herdsmen carrying assault rifles and these images were mostly captioned as Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria. The problem with most of these photos is that it has been proven that they were sourced from unrelated events in the past from countries such as South Sudan, Congo and possible Chad. It is not unusual that the Fulani tribe extends well beyond northern Nigeria and the history and culture of the region have encouraged herdsmen to diffuse across highly permeable borders to ensure survival of their main source of livelihood.

One of the images posted tonight of dead people was guaranteed to be from Enugu and father Mbaka was called out for not backing Goodluck Jonathan. That image was sourced from September 28 2009 when a massacre claimed many lives in Guinea. Some people are not content with Nigeria facing economic challenges so they want to set fire on what is still left of the country. They are portraying the incumbent government as insensitive and accommodating terrorists. They are convinced beyond every doubt that the Muslim and northern president wants to wipe them out of existence so they are encouraging people to take up arms and defend themselves. One fellow said it is better to die fighting than to die running.

I really do not know how those who claim that kidnappers of a man in Delta and those who raided farmlands in Benue are one and the same people. At a time, unknown gunmen were the major culprits but now every case of kidnap, arson, murder and terrorism is the handiwork of a Fulani herdsman. If indeed there is an agenda on the part of this largely uneducated group, should they be wrecking havoc in Enugu and overlook Lagos where they could potentially do more damage?

I will always call for restraint and patience with respect to the citizens of Nigeria many of whom possess itchy fingers ready to push unsubstantiated news and rumor especially on social media. Inciting people to engage in hostilities even for a justifiable and credible reason is surely not the way to go. We all end up becoming arsonist and will have all our roofs blown off when we could all have helped to put out the fire by uninstalling our default ethnic and religious sentiments.

I was on a medical mission to Taraba once in 2009 and our team members had to attend to a man allegedly attacked by herdsmen. Before then, I had to attend to a man with multiple lacerations and puncture wounds to his face and head when I was in Abuja in 2008. The man survived an attack related to cattle rearing; I don't recollect if he was a Fulani herdsman or not. The violence related to cattle in Nigeria didn't start in June 2015. The solution won't arrive today but will require time. Quite a few Nigerian communities have been notorious and violent towards their neighbours over the years. Families destroy property belong to other families just to get ahead, I do not believe that every evil meted out in Nigeria emanates from Fulani herdsmen. They seem to be the available group to target and a tool to label the president as destructive.

Should we round up every cattle herdsman along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and along the rail track at the Agege area of Lagos because they have now been labeled terrorist? Should these events not be investigated to properly identify the real actors causing unrest in our nation instead of trusting solely eye witness accounts? If these events have all happened exactly as they have been described; should we not properly categorise them and raise our security alertness?

It all seems convenient and too easy to label Fulani herdsmen as the source of our current insecurity. I am weary about the authenticity of news in Nigeria and would rather urge Nigerians to be more cautious about what they permit to spread. Nigeria shall survive every falsehood come what may.

April 26, 2016.