It
is increasingly becoming difficult to dismiss recurring attacks on
Catholic priests by Fulani herdsmen as part of the evils associated with
such criminal activities in parts of the country. Not with the heinous
manner a 26-year old senior Seminarian, Lazarus Nwafor was murdered in
his room a few weeks back at Attakwu, Enugu State.
His assailants slaughtered him a day
after he returned to his station after scaling through the roof as they
could not break the metal door to his apartment. He had no issues with
the herdsmen. In that encounter, other people including a pregnant woman
who had her stomach ripped open fell to the dastardly onslaught of the
heartless herdsmen.
Not unexpectedly, the fate of the
seminarian ruffled sensibilities as to why his killers would make that
daring effort to snuff life out of him when his profession has nothing
to do with their cattle rearing business. Insinuations were for good
measure, rife as to whether his offence had to do with the wearing of
his soutane in that village environment? Otherwise, how else could an
innocent and harmless seminarian have attracted the ire of herdsmen such
they had to scale through the roof to eliminate him in a place he was
almost serving out his apostolic work?
Or, was his killing part of the larger
strategy by terrorists to inflict harm on critical institutions or
persons so as to create maximum impact and cause disaffection as we have
seen in the case of the Boko Haram insurgency and similar terrorist
onslaughts? This poser is germane given that before now; we have been
told by no less a person than the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad
Abubakar that the criminal herdsmen are foreign terrorists. The Sultan
is not alone in this position which had earlier been shared by a former
Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase.
But he seemed to have upped the ante
when he asserted that “all these so-called Fulani herdsmen moving with
guns and causing violence; fighting with farmers are not Nigerians.
These are foreigners coming into Nigeria to cause a breach of the peace
of the nation. They are therefore terrorists and should be treated as
such by the Nigerian security agencies”.
Ironically however, we have also been
told before now by various leaders of the herdsmen of the reasons they
attack communities chiefly among them being cattle rustling and clashes
with local farmers over gazing lands. Given the above, it is difficult
to believe as the Sultan and the police would want us, that the herding
business is controlled almost entirely by foreigners. The facts on the
ground do not bear that conclusion out.
And if the story as told by the Sultan
and the police were to be correct, why have our law enforcement agencies
found it difficult to confront the supposedly foreign terrorists in the
same fashion they amassed an armada against the Boko Haram insurgents
and the Niger Delta militants? Or is that a measure of the weight the
government assigns to the recurring wanton destruction of lives and
property by the insurgent herdsmen?
Whatever the case, the insurgency of the
herdsmen has become a serious threat to peace, unity and stability in
this country. It is increasingly assuming religious, ethnic and
political undertones that urgent steps must be taken by the Buhari
administration to stem the dangerous tide.
If the case of the murdered seminarian
is not enough to establish an emerging trend in attacking catholic
priests and other clergymen , the fate that befell three catholic
priests last week along the Nkpologwu/Nimbo road in Enugu State further
leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
In a media briefing, the Catholic
Archdiocese of Nnewi told the nation that suspected Fulani herdsmen
armed with dangerous weapons, attacked and kidnapped the Rector of Tansi
Major Seminary Onitsha, Rev Fr. Emmanuel Dim while two of his
colleagues travelling in the same car, Rev. Frs. Jude Chukwuneke and
Jude Ezeokana escaped with gunshot wounds. The herdsmen have since
demanded a N2.5 million ransom before they can set their captive priest
free.
The diocese noted that at a separate
place on the same day, Sept 26, another Catholic Vincentian priest and
his brother were kidnapped along the Abuja/ Lokoja expressway. They
further recalled that Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ugwu was also kidnapped in
August along Ugwuogo-Nike-Opi road among others. They therefore wondered
whether these were mere happenstances or “Catholic priests have become
endangered species?
The Director of communications of the
Diocese Rev. Fr. Hyginus Aghaulor was visibly piqued that in spite of
these senseless attacks on their priests and those serving elsewhere,
governments especially those in the South-east have been tepid in their
handling of the looming danger.
Lamenting that since the existence of
this country nobody has seen the level of killing spree that is
perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen, they noted while “innocent people
are left unprotected we have seen barrage of military wares and
personnel protecting the pipelines in the Niger Delta as if oil is more
important than peoples’ life”.
The lamentations of Nnewi diocese of the
Catholic Church mirror very vividly the agony of the Catholic Church
and indeed all Christians since the insurgency of the herdsmen assumed
its current dangerous form. Before now, and given the modus operandi of
the herdsmen, suspicions have been rife as to whether there are other
motives to their militancy. In this wise, expansionism both
territorially and religious-wise were frequently fingered. These were
the basis for the strident criticisms and opposition that trailed the
curious suggestion for the mapping out of grazing areas in all the
states for the herdsmen.
It is feared with justification that if
the herdsmen could operate and attack their host communities in the
dastardly manner they do without being apprehended, creating such
reserves or routes for them in other peoples’ ancestral home will amount
to an open license to conquer, despoil and uproot their hosts. That is
why such ideas as grazing reserves and grazing routes must give way to
the more civilized methods of animal husbandry – establishment of
ranches.
It may be convenient to ascribe the
kidnap of the Rector to one of those escapades of criminal herdsmen. It
could also be argued that the objective is to extract ransom since they
have demanded same. But by now, they would have discovered that their
captive is a man of God who lives on charity. They would have discovered
that the religion and faith of millions of Nigerians are at issue.
These alone would have been enough for them to set him free
unconditionally. But to continue holding him, asking for ransom depicts
crass insensitivity to the religious sensibilities of the people of the
area. This definitely goes with dire repercussion on peoples’ perception
of the herdsmen and their business.
Given the sensitivity of religion on
these shores and the proclivity of some faiths to jealously guard theirs
including passing sentences and taking the lives of those suspected of
one infraction or the other, it would amount to playing with fire to
allow the wanton attacks on catholic clergy by the herdsmen to continue
this way. Enough of that nonsense!
But the Enugu State government cannot
fold its arms and allow the herdsmen levy a verity of the Hobbesian
state of nature within its domain. It must immediately come out with
stringent laws to regulate the devious activities of the herdsmen,
especially given the position of the state as the main gateway for them
to access the South-East and South-South.
Governor Ugwuanyi must move quam celerrime
to save the people of Enugu State from imminent annihilation by the
herdsmen since an end to the orgy of violence is nowhere in sight. It
will amount to an abdication of responsibility waiting for federal
action given the ambivalence of that level of government to the
degenerating situation. After all, what is left of a government that
cannot protect lives and property?
Emeka Omeihe is a journalist who writes for The Nation where this article was first published. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
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