By Ikem Okuhu
I was able to contain my anger when the recent attack by Fulani herdsmen happened in Enugu.
It took serious effort to hold back both tears and pent up frustration at what has become a deliberate effort by these people to provoke the good people of the state and ignite wider crises.
Perhaps this is the underpinning of the incessant killings that as far as I am concerned, can’t bear any other name other than TERRORISM.
The fact that in the two attacks in Enugu affected the religious institutions is also telling. In Nimbo, the destroyed a church and attacked a priest. In Atikwu Ozara, they killed a Seminarian (a future priest of the Catholic faith).
I had to watch because I also needed to look at how the government and security agencies were going to respond.
The speed the governor reacted this time was clearly multiple times faster than as happened in the Ukpabi crises and that is the way to go. That he summoned a security council meeting that same day leading to the arrest of one of the suspected terrorists is also calming even in the face of such grim circumstances.
The truth is that these herdsmen appear to have a deeper agenda that is beyond grazing rights and the superiority they attach to livestock over human lives. As noted earlier, they seem to be targeting religious institutions in the two incidents in Enugu State,
What needs to be done by government and this pronouncement MUST have to come from President Buhari himself is to classify this guys as terrorists and hunt them down with same national urgency as Boko Haram. If he does not do so and immediately too, then he is yielding to the growing narrative that there is a nepotistic conspiracy of silence against Fulani Terrorism.
Now that Governor Ugwuanyi seems to be responding a lot faster, I also think time has come for the people to be a bit more proactive in managing the threats increasingly presented by Fulani Terrorism.
I have seen quite a few places angry citizens have criticised him in the aftermath of the Enugu incident. That is quite understandable. You rarely tell a mourner and I mean a really bereaved person, how to mourn his or her loss.
But I am also sure that we cannot claim to not have seen the speed of response this time around and the result, which was almost immediate.
We also cannot convince ourselves that it was ever possible for the government to have anticipated the killing, I have not read anywhere it was said there was intelligence report of an impending attack, meaning it could not have been anticipated.
In matters of security, while the proactive is best option, the reactive mode is also critical in arresting situations before it goes from disease to epidemic.
It is not too different from health issues. We are advised to maintain a healthy lifestyle so we don’t have reason to see doctors in hospitals. But we also train doctors to be in wait if and when we fall in or have accidents.
Prevention is better than cure but a timely cure has its very commendable benefits and that is what I saw in this crises.
GOING FORWARD
1. Local Vigilantes as risky as that in itself is, should become very active for community policing. No Fulani terrorist will attack is he knows there are well armed youths around.
2. The State govt should work with local chiefs to identify camps of these men and activate a connection with the leaders of those camps who would be held responsible should any attack come from their camp.
3. Local chiefs, as greedy and selfish as some of them are, MUST stop collecting gifts of cash and cattle from Fulanis which gives them false sense of entitlement to lands and pasture.
Regular security checks of all the identified and registered camps must be maintained to track movements, know when new people join or leave them and understand in time, on time, where they will have left to. Things cannot continue like this.
Ikem, a brand building expert/Publisher Brandish Magazine wrote from Lagos.
