Kogi community cries out, Save us now from constant Fulani herdsmen attacks

Agojeju-Odo community in Kogi State was a community thriving on agriculture before incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen forced the residents flee their homes and livelihoods. YEKINI JIMOH visited the community and spoke to displaced persons in desperate need of government intervention for them to return home to safety, reports Nigerian Tribune.

The people of Agojeju Odo in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State will never forget Thursday, April 4, 2024. It was the day that the sleepy community saw 200 herdsmen invade the village and kill over 19 persons including women and children.

According to history, the crisis in Bagana in Omala Local Government has been in existence for over 45 years ago, precisely in 1978.

When our correspondent visited the community, the entire village had been deserted by the residents to avoid another attack.

According to the community, the gunmen attacked the community in broad daylight around 3:30 p.m. and 4p.m.

According to information gathered, the armed men encircled the community and launched a violent assault, resulting in fatalities and the destruction of houses.

An anonymous community leader, who narrowly escaped the attack, revealed that the residents were caught off guard by the onslaught.

It was also gathered that rumours of a potential invasion had been circulating in the past three weeks, and the newly appointed Local Government Council Caretaker Chairman, Mark Edibo, had been notified, despite assurances of safety and security.

According to a source, the violence stemmed from a disagreement between a young man in Agojeju-Odo and a herder over damage to his farm by cattle. Despite intervention by the caretaker chairman, tensions escalated.

The district head and traditional ruler, the Ochala Oni Ife of Bagaji Odo in Omala Local Government Area, David Akpa, said herdsmen were behind the death of 25 people in Agojeju-Odo community.

The ruler, who spoke to correspondents when they visited the community for an on-the-spot assessment after the attack, said Agojeju-Odo community has been completely deserted.

According to him, the residents of the affected community have relocated to Bagaji Odo, Abejikolo, Acha and other neighbouring community over fear of further attack.

“The Fulani herdsmen are behind the attack at Agojeju-Odo community which led to the death of 25 people. They came in their numbers and started killing people. They had been harvesting our crops and preventing our people from having access to their farms. Whenever they come, they will be asking if you are from Agatu and many more questions.”

He called on the government to provide security for his people as there is fear of another attack in his community and its environs.

“The government should come to our rescue before things get out of hand. Our people are being killed by these Fulani herdsmen. Those that have relocated to Bagaji Odo are thinking of relocating out of here because there is information that the herdsmen are coming here to attack,” he pleaded.

Some of the survivors of the attack narrated what happened.

“The herdsmen came at about 3 to 4pm on Thursday and started killing our people. About 25 people were buried in our village.

“We don’t know what is our problem with them. This is not the first time they are attacking us. They killed four of our people the last time before Thursday incident. We could no longer go to our farm land and raining reason is fast approaching. What are we going to do? The government should help us with adequate security so that we can go back to our community” they stated.

Mrs Patience Akauwu, a 67-year-old woman, said that life has become tough and hard for them, having lost their farm produce to the attackers.

“We have been displaced and suffering here in Bagaji-Odo due to lack of food and a conducive place to stay.

“All we are asking is for the federal and state governments to assist in providing adequate security for us to return home,” she pleaded.

Giving his own account, Joshua Salifu, a farmer, said that his wife and children are still missing and pleaded with government to help find them.

He said that when the herdsmen attacked the community, everyone began to run helter-skelter.

“At that time, we were running for our dear lives. I’m here in Bagaji-Odo not knowing where my wife and children are.

“I took part in the burial of the 25 persons killed, but my wife and any of my children were not among them,” he said.

Salifu said that he was afraid to go back to the village to search for his loved ones and was helpless.

Another IDP, Paul Achabo, a farmer, begged the government to help set up military presence in Agojeju-Odo community, a border village between Benue and Kogi.

Achabo said that unless there was adequate security in the community, they could not go back for fear that the bandits might return.

According to him, all their foodstuffs such as yam, cassava, maize, cashew and beans were carted away by the bandits.

The District Head of Bagaji-Odo, Chief David Akpa, also pleaded with the government to come to assist the IDPs and the affected communities

“This is because we don’t have the kind of sophisticated weapons the bandits have to face them.

“God knows we have no problem with the Fulani herdsmen around us, but why they did this to our people we don’t understand,” the traditional ruler said.

The news that suspected armed herders killed at least 25 people and wounded an unspecified number of others in Omala Local Government Area community of Kogi on April 4 has made the rounds. The attack reportedly came in retaliation of local residents recently killing six herders.

However, a group known as the Omala Women Forum has denounced what it called unwarranted assaults, wanton, indiscriminate slaying of innocent indigenes and the ruthless destruction of properties in Agojeju-Odo, Omala LGA of Kogi State by rampaging herders.

The Iye Ebulejonu of Igala Kingdom (forum leader), Chief Alima Abuh, said the rampage has led to the tragic deaths of several persons and the loss of properties worth millions of naira.

“We unequivocally condemn this abhorrent display of notoriety and demand that the perpetrators be apprehended and subjected to the full force of the law. We have zero tolerance for those who flagrantly disregard human dignity and the basic tenets of peaceful coexistence.

“We call upon the government to urgently undertake a comprehensive on-site assessment of the scale of killings and destruction of properties carried out by these assailants, which we believe is ongoing, with a view to providing urgent succour and relief to the victims.

“We have mobilised our members across the 11 wards of the local government area to undertake a three-day period of fasting and prayers for our land. This spiritual observance is set to conclude today.

“We are confident that the deities of our ancestral lands, as well as the Almighty God we collectively worship, will heed our fervent supplications during this time of mourning and grief.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and love ones. We pray that our fallen heroes and heroines be granted eternal rest. May the Almighty and the deities of our ancestral lands provide comfort and solace to those mourning the devastating loss of their cherished family members and community members. We stand in solidarity with all those affected by this senseless tragedy.”

Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Usman Ododo, has expressed deep shock and sympathy over the recent killings in Agojeju-Odo community in Omala Local Government Area of the state.

In a press statement issued three days after the attacks by Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Ismaila Isah, the governor, who regretted the dimension that the communal clashes between people in the area have assumed over time, promised immediate intervention by his administration to forestall a reccurrence.

Governor Ododo assured that those who attacked the community would be brought to justice. He added that security agencies were on the trail of the assailants whose acts of mindless cowardice resulted in the destruction of lives and property in the area.

He noted that “the crisis in Bagana in Omala Local Government did not start today. It has been in existence for over 45 years ago, precisely 1978. We are doing our best to make sure peace is restored within the area.”

The governor who has since sent a delegation led by the state deputy governor, Elder Joel Oyibo Salifu, on a condolence visit to the area further stated that kinetic and non-kinetic measures deployed by the state government has led to relative stability in Omala Local Government Area until the recent escalation of the conflict.

Governor Ododo further said that the state will deploy a detachment of the recently established Metropolitan Quick Response to the area to complement existing security architecture in Omala Local Government Area.

He noted that security agents have arrested sponsors of recent attack of the Agojeju-Odo in Omala Local Government Area by some suspected Fulani herdsmen.

“Reacting to noise makers, and those that have no stake as far as governance is concerned, it is not part of the mandate given to me by the good people of Kogi State and Mr President.

“As I speak to you today, the suspected sponsors have been arrested, investigation are ongoing. They are giving us useful information that will lead to the arrest of other suspects. As soon as we are done with that investigation, the report will be made known to the public.”

The governor commiserated with relatives of those killed in the crisis and promised that the government will provide support for those injured and others whose houses were destroyed in the attack.

Meanwhile, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, said the Commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha, had deployed a tactical squad comprising mobile police, soldiers, and vigilante men to the area to restore order in response to a distress call.