BENIN CITY – All across Nigeria, reports continue to flow in of the seemingly endless clash between nomadic Fulani Herdsmen and agrarian farmers.
Farmlands across the country have become killing fields as Boko Haram insurgents and Fulani Herdsmen hold the nation in the jugulars and threaten to tear to shreds the continuous unity Nigeria.
From the hills of the Jos plateau to the trough and plains of the Benue basin up to the Niger-Delta and Benin City, down to the forest of the Kogi region, the story remains the same – bloodletting carried out by so-called Boko Haram advocates and Fulani herders, using sophisticated weapons indicative of a nation at war.
“We are indeed at war as the present killings is just more than herders in search of food for their flock but a grand political scheme by the Fulani to intimidate and conquer the rest of the nation as did their forebear and grand conqueror , Uthma Dan Fodio”, a source said.
According to the reports within and other neighbouring communities in the Edo-Delta axis of the country, the Boko Haram insurgents and Fulani herdsmen attacks have left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.
The reports say that fight broke out between some Fulani herdsmen and the family of Osagiede over the destruction of their family farms settlement by Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgents.
This source of livelihood of the Osagiedes, the source says, is a very large hectare and could not be allowed to be destroyed by herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgents which were vehemently challenged by one Mr. Augustine Osagied Ughe, a member of the Osagiede family.
This led to serious attacks on the community by the insurgents and Boko Haram advocates.
The reports say that Augustine Osagiede Ughe’s challenge which further infuriated the Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen led to intensified attacks on the community with dangerous weapons and persistent search for Augustine Osagiede Ughe, his wife, Mrs. Osagiede Nosa Vivian to be eliminated.
“Several attacks have been carried out on the communities and particularly, the family residence of the Osagiede, with a stern warning that Augustine Osagiede Ughe and his family will be hunt down for daring to challenge the violence of the Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgents in the community”, the source said.
“As we speak, the whereabouts of Mrs. Osagiede Nosa Vivian, wife of Augustine Osagiede Ughe and their children (Osagiede Gift Eseosa, Osagiede Angel Osarumwense, Osagiede Goodluck Osakioduwa and Osagiede Amanda Osaivbie) cannot be ascertained. Even Mr. Augustine Osagiede Ughe’s whereabouts is unknown”, the family source added.
“We are living in perpetual fear now because we do not know when next they are coming to attack us”, the source concluded.
As at the time of filing in this report, the whereabouts of the Augustine Osagiede Ughe and members of his family cannot be ascertained, as anonymous reports said that there are cases of targeted killings of members of the community who have organised a kind of militia resistance against the marauding Herdsmen.
It is however important to emphasize that peace and security are, arguably, man’s basic existential needs after food and shelter, and no society can progress in the absence of peace, justice and security.
