Enugu Massacre And The Hypocrisy Northern Governors

By Jude Ndukwe

Still in a mourning mood over the mindless massacre at Enugu by suspected Fulani herdsmen, the nation’s heavy heart was further daggered by what can best be described as the petulance of an arrogant set of governors from the northern part of the country who take pleasure in talking down on the other parts of the country and behave like a headmaster whose pupils must not have an opinion not to talk of expressing such without incurring his wrath.

Following the Ukpabi Nimbo incident in Enugu State, there was a general outpour of rage by all well-meaning Nigerians who thought, and rightly so too, that the president, Muhammadu Buhari, has not done enough to rein in the Fulani herdsmen despite their repeated reign of terror across the middle belt and southern parts of the country. Nigerians had thought the Agatu attack was the height of the continued attack by the herdsmen; they had thought the president would say something to, at least, placate the grieving community, but no word came from him. The worst was that those responsible for the heinous crime had a meeting with Nigeria’s chief police officer where they confessed to their crime, yet, were let go, strangely.

Also, Nigerians could not understand why Buhari gave marching orders to service chiefs to deal with pipeline vandals in the south southern part of the country but gave no such stern orders against the Fulani herdsmen until the public outrage that followed the Enugu massacre. Rightly or wrongly, a lot of Nigerians think that the Fulani herdsmen are enjoying tacit support from the powers that be to carry on their dastardly acts unchecked. This thought stems from Buhari’s actions and statements in the past where he had expressed and actually acted in support of the Fulani herdsmen who are also his kinsmen.

For example in October 2000, President Buhari had travelled all the way from Katsina State leading a  delegation of 5 men to the then governor of Oyo State, Lam Adeshina, to strongly protest the reprisal attack carried out on Fulani herdsmen by the Saki people of the state after the herdsmen had repeatedly attacked people of the area. The presence of Buhari and his delegation was said to have raised palpable tension in the state that they even refused to acknowledge pleasantries from government officials and left in anger without taking the refreshments served them by the governor. This was understandable as the governor, Lam Adeshina, was said to have properly addressed them and put them in their rightful place by warning them to stop parading around causing disunity where there was none!

With this in mind, Nigerians might not be wrong to have accused the president of not acting timeously against the herdsmen because of some ethnic and religious affinity he shares with them.