Did the activities of militants in the Niger Delta qualify as crime? Hell Yes! Militancy and kidnapping were a profitable pursuit in that oil-rich region in the early 2000s. Kidnapping as an organised venture entered our national lexicon at the time. Immigrants from Europe and America working with oil companies were kidnapped and huge ransoms extracted from them. Soldiers and police officers were killed, and public infrastructure destroyed. This is a fact of history.
Really, there was a method to the madness of the Niger Delta militants. They were fighting for a just cause — a region so endowed; yet so impoverished. But the genuineness of their cause does not obviate the criminality of their exertions. Militancy is a crime against the state. Lives were lost; some families traumatised and scarred for life.
As the tension in the Niger Delta thawed owing to the political engineering of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua administration, copycat crimes inspired by militants sputtered in the south-east. The kidnapping establishment now had new shareholders. The south-east was in the thrall of kidnappers who killed their victims even after ransom was paid. Igbo-on-Igbo crime. Kidnapping became so pervasive in the south-east that some governors of the region resorted to demolishing property acquired by the hostage takers to deter other human hunters. Quasi-security groups were set up to deal with the challenge – which even persists to this day.
The criminal commerce was later trafficked to Lagos where a certain Evans Onuamadike and his gang reigned in the kidnapping industry like a potentate. Some of his victims were allegedly killed, and from his own confession, he extracted millions of naira from his victims and bought a mansion for himself at Magodo in Lagos.
Nigeria is in the clutches of a more vicious stakeholder in the kidnapping enterprise. ‘’Bandits’’ as they have been tagged, do not only kidnap citizens, but also kill and maim some of them. They are more brutal in their execution – and without any regard for life. They have killed many Nigerians and sacked towns and villages. It is indubitable that ‘’bandits’’ are Nigeria’s most deadly adversary — after insurgents.
There is no method to the madness of bandits. There is no cause to justify the orgy of murders, rape and destruction.
However, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi in his proselytizing for bandits has raised some prickly posers. He said bandits are waging an ethnic war against the state and that only by granting them amnesty can the titanic iceberg thaw. He said bandits believe their existence in Nigeria is threatened; so they fight. He said these people have endured the pillaging of their cattle and homes – with no protection from security agencies. I will not join the multitude to censure the Sheikh; I would rather plead we ponder on some of his revelations.
The Sheikh said: “People don’t know the Fulani at all. They are not after money. Even when they are burning houses in Oyo, don’t you see where they live? They stay in huts. They are not into buying flashy cars. They just like their cattle. The money they are collecting from kidnappings, they are buying weapons with them. The more you fight them, the more they fight back. They don’t surrender. They are saying if the air force continues to pester them, they will have to get anti-aircraft. Not all of them are criminals; the hard-line (position) taken against them turned them into the militants that they are.’’
Gumi made a salient point here if we care enough to shackle our emotions and interrogate the fact. Really, where does the money from kidnapping go to? These bandits do not buy cars or houses, instead they are acquiring ‘’armadas’’ – for what purpose? This validates the opinion that these bandits are waging an ethnic war. There is a backstory to every crisis. What we are witnessing could be beyond kidnapping and banditry. Kidnapping and banditry could just be the cash trove to finance this war.
It then makes sense that seeking an accord to end this crisis should not be banished out of the potpourri of remedies.
As a matter of fact, the nomadic Fulani has existed in the shadows – far removed from the presence of government. No protection or aid by the civil administration; so he becomes his own security. The present parlous state of affairs is as a result of successive years of failed leadership. The leadership has failed the Fulani; the leadership has failed the Igbo; the leadership has failed the Hausa; the leadership has failed the Yoruba; the leadership has failed all Nigerians.
We are all victims of the situation. The failure of leadership is the reason Nigerians take up arms against one another. The nomadic Fulani is a victim of failed leadership just like every one of us. We have to fix leadership.
Should it be unto bandits as it was unto Niger Delta militants? The ethnic cleavages have been revealed again in this crisis. The debate is now on ‘’my criminal is nicer than yours’’. While some Nigerians will not countenance any justification for banditry; yet they make strong arguments for Niger Delta militants who also kidnapped people, killed soldiers and extracted ransoms. ‘’My criminal is nicer than yours’’. We forget that at the end of the day, crime is crime whether by done by Ejiro, Kachalla or Chukwudi.
We cannot also rule out the possibility of some vultures seeking to use ‘’amnesty for bandits’’ as means to perpetuate their looting of the public till. So, if there must be amnesty for bandits, it should be at no financial cost to the government. However, the government should revisit the national livestock plan and work in consonance with state governors to see to its implementation. Already, the Nigeria Governors Forum has endorsed the plan. The government should not be seduced into doing a reprise of the ‘’amnesty package’’ of Niger Delta militants for bandits. Bandits should surrender their weapons unconditionally. In seeking peace, we must not create for ourselves future problems by rewarding crime.
The Presidency has scheduled a consultative meeting with state governors and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as the labour unions to find a solution to issue of right pricing for Premium Motor Spirit(PMS) and electricity tariff in the country.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, who spoke to newsmen at the end of a meeting between the Federal Government and Organized Labour today, February 22, in Abuja, said that the scheduled meeting is continuation of the series of meetings held in 2020 in a bid to persuade labour unions from embarking on industrial action over the increase in the price of petrol and electricity.
Senator Ngige said that the meeting with organized labour was peaceful and productive.
“As for the issue of the price of PMS, it is a work in progress. The governors are to discuss this on Thursday at the National Economic Council and hopefully there will be a way out of the situation”
He said that both sides have resolved to allow more time in order to look into ways of tinkering with the template for fixing domestic fuel price.
The minister said that on the issue of electricity tariff that the report was well recieved by both sides and the committee was asked to continue further work on grey areas. He said that the meeting with organised labour was adjourned till April, after the Easter celebration.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, said that the union had been able to point out areas of the report on PMS pricing that labour was not in agreement with. Wabba also said that labour maintained that it is not comfortable with the import pricing method that was adopted by the country.
“This means that we import 100 per cent of all the PMS used in the country, whereas we have refineries. The reports were presented and we pointed out areas that we are not comfortable with and also made some suggestions which will form the basis of decisions on the matter.”
The Federal Government had in November 2020, raised the depot price of petrol from N147.67 to N155.17 per litre, enforcing marketers to sell between 165 and 173 Naira per litre.
A prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said that nomadic Fulanis are fighting an ethnic war with the rest of Nigeria because they feel that their existence as an ethnic group has been seriously threatened.
Sheikh Gumi who spoke today, February 22 on Channels Television program, Politics Today, said: “what people consider as banditry is actually an ethnic war by nomadic Fulanis who feel that the existence of their ethnic group is being threatened by other tribes such as Yorubas, Igbos, Hausas and others.
“One can, in fact, address them as militants. Their mission is not to kill. They want money having lost their sources of livelihood to cow rustlers. Where there are killings, they are mostly ethnic revenge because one or some of their kinsmen had been killed by people of other ethnic groups,” Gumi said in response to a question on what could be the motivation for banditry in northern Nigeria.
“These militants are known to have even recruited fellow Fulanis beyond the borders of Nigeria to assist them in fighting this ethnic war.”
Gumi said that the Nigerian State has been guilty of acts of injustice against nomadic Fulanis, alleging that sometime in 2014 he was privileged to learn that about 300 Fulanis had been killed extra-judicially by the Nigerian military under the guise of seeking solutions to cow rustling in parts of the north.
He also accused the Nigerian government, through its security agencies, of profiling Fulanis and setting them apart for intimidation, extortions and blackmail.
Asked to proffer solution to the spiraling crisis, Sheikh Gumi called for a cessation of military hostilities against the bandits and the exploration of dialogue and an amnesty program.
“The Nigerian military knows where these militants are. They should stop the war, go in and negotiate.
“If the pressure becomes too much, the bandits may get infiltrated by the Boko Haram insurgents. Thankfully, that has not happened yet. The solution is dialogue, not war.”
Sheikh Gumi, who denied knowing who the abductors of the Kagara students are, said that the governments of Niger, Zamfara, and Sokoto States have bought into the peace process and already in dialogue with bandits.
He said that the said states were helping out with the logistics and security arrangements for his various meetings with bandits, even as he expressed hope that the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai would soon buy into the amnesty-for-peace process.
Two Governors belonging to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have began a war of words with Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State throwing the first salvo, saying that his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed is part of terrorist Fulanis.
“I am beginning to think that my brother, the governor of Bauchi State is part of the terrorist Fulani organization that is terrorizing this country.”
Governor Ortom, in a chat with newsmen today, February 22 in Makurdi, Benue State capital, said: “why do I say this? This is the same governor who took the oath of office to protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This constitution does not leave room for allowing foreign herdsmen to come in without valid papers.”
The Benue State governor also referred to the assertion by Mohammed that herders should carry AK-47 to defend themselves as being “unconstitutional.
“His recent outburst that Fulani herdsmen are justified for carrying AK-47 to protect themselves; I don’t know where the constitution of this country allows that.”
Governor Ortom called Governor Bala Mohammed to render an unreserved apology to Nigerians and learn from the provisions of the constitution that, land both territorial, forest, and aquatic, are vested on the governor of a state who holds them in trust.
Defending his call on Fulanis to carry guns, Governor Bala Mohammed had said that his comment about armed herders was a figure of speech for protection, adding: “it is a figure of speech to show you the despondence, the desperation and frustration and the agony that this particular person is exposed to by his own people, by his own tribe and by other tribes who have all seen him as a criminal and therefore, he has the inalienable right to protect himself”
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has called on Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to sack his Chief Press Secretary, Ms Mary Noel-Barje for allegedly ordering the arrest of a PUNCH correspondent in the State, Adebayo Ayinde, and directing security men to bar him from Government House in the State for undisclosed reasons.
In a Statement today, February 22 in Lagos by its Project Director, Segun Fatuase, MRA insisted that Ms Noel-Barje should be investigated to establish the truth the fact that she used law enforcement agents to illegally intimidate, harass and prevent the journalist from carrying out his professional duties.
The organization said that if Ms Noel-Barje is harassing journalists and antagonizing the Government House Press Corps instead of cultivating them and facilitating their work of giving effective coverage to the programmes and activities of the State Government, it is obvious that she is not serving the best interest of the Governor or the State Government but pursuing other agendas that are clearly inimical to Government’s success.
Ms Noel-Barje is reported to have sent The PUNCH correspondent’s pictures to some security men in the state and instructed security operatives at Government House to bar him from entering the Government House, following which one of the security men attempted to evict him from Government House, but for the intervention of other journalists who thwarted the move. Security men at Government House are also reported to have confirmed that the Chief Press Secretary had told them to arrest Mr. Ayinde but did not provide any reason for the directive.
Fatuase said: “it is certainly not the role or function of a Chief Press Secretary, who should facilitate good relations between the government she is serving and the media, to be ordering the arrest of journalists or obstructing the performance of their professional duties. It is apparent from her actions that Ms Noel-Barje either does not know her job or is too incompetent to carry out her duties properly.”
He said that besides portraying the State Government and the Governor in bad light, the Chief Press Secretary’s actions constitute an illegal and unwarranted attack on the journalist capable of engendering his safety and security.
Fatuase called on the Governor to take stern action against the Chief Press Secretary as a deterrent to her taking similar action in future and for other officials in her position to be properly guided about the bounds of propriety. “
Nigerian soldiers have rounded up 20 members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for launching attacks on them and civilians in Orlu, Imo State. The soldiers, in a joint operation involving the Army, Airforce and the Police sustained raid operation in the axis after the killing of four soldiers on escort duties in the area by IPOB elements.
A top military intelligence officer said that the IPOB members had earlier ambushed and killed the soldiers who were on the escort of the Director Civil Affairs, Brigadier General H. E Nzan and his team on inspection of the Civil-Military Project at Nkwerre. They also took away weapons and a vehicle belonging to the soldiers.
The source said: “Since the beginning of the year, the activities of IPOB militias through its untenable and unreasonable demand for secession, has adversely affected the security situation in the area.
“The activities of the threat elements have led to an increase in organized crimes such as armed robbery, car snatching, kidnapping, raping and sundry violent criminal acts.
“There have been attacks on civilians, police and military personnel on checkpoints and escort duty.
“Recall that troops of 34 Brigade in conjunction with the Imo State Police Command, on Friday 22 January 2021, carried out raids in Okporo/Ezenta and Akata axis of Orlu Local Government Area to recover the corpse of a police officer killed by IPOB elements.
“During the raids, one IPOB member was killed and a vehicle (Jeep) was recovered. Various IPOB training camps were also discovered and destroyed.”
Similarly, last Wednesday, a raid operation was conducted in a forest close to Lilu village in Ihiala General Area of Anambra State by combined troops of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force and the Nigeria Police.
Thereafter, troops exploited further into the IPOB Camps. The militias were suspected to have escaped with their dead colleagues and varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
It was gathered that items and equipment recovered from IPOB training camps include AK-47 rifles, locally-made pistols, dane guns, cartridge ammunition, IPOB flags, water pumping machine, military fragmental jackets, mobile handsets, among others.
The suspects arrested and items recovered were handed over to the Police Headquarters in Owerri, the State capital for necessary actions.
The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has announced the uncovering of what it called “unsavory acts” of fraud perpetrated by some vendors/contractors.
A statement by the Interim Administrator of the Programme, retired Colonel Milland Dixon Dikio, said that the office is currently investigating these activities to determine how widespread and the extent of involvement or connivance with internal elements within the programme.
The statement said that while the investigation is ongoing, it will not stop the payment of those whose contracts and documents have been verified and reconciled as soon as the expected funds are released.
It recalled that before the close of the year 2020, the Programme had paid a minimum of 104 contractors that had hitherto been owed, adding that this process will continue until everyone is paid what he or she is, subject to the availability of funds.
“It must be noted that while the continuing process is evidence of the PAP’s commitment to its mandate which covers the delegates, the investigations will continue to ascertain the issues that gave rise to this allegation.”
The statement said that vendors/contractors whose contracts have not been revalidated, have not received an approval to self-fund, or been mobilized for their respective contracts are advised to suspend and maintain the status quo.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Ibrahim Attahiru has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to soldiers of the Nigerian Army to clear Boko Haram from areas in Borno State captured by the sect.
Marte, a local government in the troubled state was recently reported to have been attacked and taken over by Boko Haram. Some communities in the state including Kirenowa, Kirta, Wulgo, Chikingudo in Marte and Ngala Local Government Areas were reported to have a strong presence of the terrorist group.
The army chief who addressed the troops of the Nigerian Army Super Camp 9, Dikwa today, February 21 gave the order that the insurgents should be cleared from the reported areas in the next 48 hours.
“Areas around Marte, Chikingudu, Wulgo Kirenowa and Kirta must be cleared in the next 48 hours.”
The COAS said that he had spoken to the Theater Commander, and the General Officer Commanding 7 Division, telling the soldiers:”you must not let this nation down. Go back and do the needful and I will be right behind you.
“You should be rest assured of all support you require in this very onerous task.
”You are aware of the recent attack on Dikwa and Marte, you should not allow this to happen again, go after them and clear these bastards.”
The COAS, who commended the efforts of the troops in the fight against Boko Haram, said, ”I am here to deliver the greetings of Mr President and Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari. I have spoken with your Commanders, we are going to provide you with the equipment and weapons you need to end this war.
“We are also going to address the issue of overstay in the theatre. No more issue of overstay.”
The COAS who addressed the residents of Dikwa and those who fled during the recent onslaught on Marte, but now taking refuge in Dikwa, said: ”I want to assure you that we are going to protect you, not only that we are going to clear Marte, Kirenuwa, Wulgo, Kirta and their environs. What we need from you is your cooperation and prayers.”
Here are some faces of the Air Force officers who died in a military plane that crashed today, February 21 near Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Sheikh Gumi had earlier met with the bandits in the forest
All the students and staff as well as their relations, kidnapped by armed bandits at the Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State have gained their freedom.
Information reaching us at Greenbarge Reporters confirmed that they were left off the hook today, February 21 by their captors after some negotiations that lasted three days.
It was not immediately clear whether ransom was paid to the bandits before they were released.
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A prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said that nomadic Fulanis are fighting an ethnic war with the rest of Nigeria because they feel that their existence as an ethnic group has been seriously threatened.
Nigerian soldiers have rounded up 20 members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for launching attacks on them and civilians in Orlu, Imo State. The soldiers, in a joint operation involving the Army, Airforce and the Police sustained raid operation in the axis after the killing of four soldiers on escort duties in the area by IPOB elements.
Politics Of Amnesty: Like Niger Delta Militants, Like Bandits, By Fredrick Nwabufo
Did the activities of militants in the Niger Delta qualify as crime? Hell Yes! Militancy and kidnapping were a profitable pursuit in that oil-rich region in the early 2000s. Kidnapping as an organised venture entered our national lexicon at the time. Immigrants from Europe and America working with oil companies were kidnapped and huge ransoms extracted from them. Soldiers and police officers were killed, and public infrastructure destroyed. This is a fact of history.
Really, there was a method to the madness of the Niger Delta militants. They were fighting for a just cause — a region so endowed; yet so impoverished. But the genuineness of their cause does not obviate the criminality of their exertions. Militancy is a crime against the state. Lives were lost; some families traumatised and scarred for life.
As the tension in the Niger Delta thawed owing to the political engineering of the Umar Musa Yar’Adua administration, copycat crimes inspired by militants sputtered in the south-east. The kidnapping establishment now had new shareholders. The south-east was in the thrall of kidnappers who killed their victims even after ransom was paid. Igbo-on-Igbo crime. Kidnapping became so pervasive in the south-east that some governors of the region resorted to demolishing property acquired by the hostage takers to deter other human hunters. Quasi-security groups were set up to deal with the challenge – which even persists to this day.
The criminal commerce was later trafficked to Lagos where a certain Evans Onuamadike and his gang reigned in the kidnapping industry like a potentate. Some of his victims were allegedly killed, and from his own confession, he extracted millions of naira from his victims and bought a mansion for himself at Magodo in Lagos.
Nigeria is in the clutches of a more vicious stakeholder in the kidnapping enterprise. ‘’Bandits’’ as they have been tagged, do not only kidnap citizens, but also kill and maim some of them. They are more brutal in their execution – and without any regard for life. They have killed many Nigerians and sacked towns and villages. It is indubitable that ‘’bandits’’ are Nigeria’s most deadly adversary — after insurgents.
There is no method to the madness of bandits. There is no cause to justify the orgy of murders, rape and destruction.
However, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi in his proselytizing for bandits has raised some prickly posers. He said bandits are waging an ethnic war against the state and that only by granting them amnesty can the titanic iceberg thaw. He said bandits believe their existence in Nigeria is threatened; so they fight. He said these people have endured the pillaging of their cattle and homes – with no protection from security agencies. I will not join the multitude to censure the Sheikh; I would rather plead we ponder on some of his revelations.
The Sheikh said: “People don’t know the Fulani at all. They are not after money. Even when they are burning houses in Oyo, don’t you see where they live? They stay in huts. They are not into buying flashy cars. They just like their cattle. The money they are collecting from kidnappings, they are buying weapons with them. The more you fight them, the more they fight back. They don’t surrender. They are saying if the air force continues to pester them, they will have to get anti-aircraft. Not all of them are criminals; the hard-line (position) taken against them turned them into the militants that they are.’’
Gumi made a salient point here if we care enough to shackle our emotions and interrogate the fact. Really, where does the money from kidnapping go to? These bandits do not buy cars or houses, instead they are acquiring ‘’armadas’’ – for what purpose? This validates the opinion that these bandits are waging an ethnic war. There is a backstory to every crisis. What we are witnessing could be beyond kidnapping and banditry. Kidnapping and banditry could just be the cash trove to finance this war.
It then makes sense that seeking an accord to end this crisis should not be banished out of the potpourri of remedies.
As a matter of fact, the nomadic Fulani has existed in the shadows – far removed from the presence of government. No protection or aid by the civil administration; so he becomes his own security. The present parlous state of affairs is as a result of successive years of failed leadership. The leadership has failed the Fulani; the leadership has failed the Igbo; the leadership has failed the Hausa; the leadership has failed the Yoruba; the leadership has failed all Nigerians.
We are all victims of the situation. The failure of leadership is the reason Nigerians take up arms against one another. The nomadic Fulani is a victim of failed leadership just like every one of us. We have to fix leadership.
Should it be unto bandits as it was unto Niger Delta militants? The ethnic cleavages have been revealed again in this crisis. The debate is now on ‘’my criminal is nicer than yours’’. While some Nigerians will not countenance any justification for banditry; yet they make strong arguments for Niger Delta militants who also kidnapped people, killed soldiers and extracted ransoms. ‘’My criminal is nicer than yours’’. We forget that at the end of the day, crime is crime whether by done by Ejiro, Kachalla or Chukwudi.
We cannot also rule out the possibility of some vultures seeking to use ‘’amnesty for bandits’’ as means to perpetuate their looting of the public till. So, if there must be amnesty for bandits, it should be at no financial cost to the government. However, the government should revisit the national livestock plan and work in consonance with state governors to see to its implementation. Already, the Nigeria Governors Forum has endorsed the plan. The government should not be seduced into doing a reprise of the ‘’amnesty package’’ of Niger Delta militants for bandits. Bandits should surrender their weapons unconditionally. In seeking peace, we must not create for ourselves future problems by rewarding crime.
I wish Nigeria peace.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.
Twitter @FredrickNwabufo.