Enugu killings, Ugwuanyi and quest for national unity

By Levi Odogwubueze, Jnr.

The misconceptions, pain, emotions, anger and con­demnations that greeted the recent senseless killings of innocent citizens of Enugu State in Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen are quite understandable and ap­preciated.

The unfortunate incident which has threatened the unity and existence of our nation as one indivisible entity has equally set a new agenda for the renewal of our national unity and in­tegration. It has also sensitised the world against the growing national terror culture of the herdsmen that has fast snow­balled into an endemic disaster against the peoples’ right to life, with all the imperious features not too away from that of Boko-Haram insurgency.

The herdsmen attack in Enugu has equally caught the security agencies lacking in intelligence. The carnage has received the widest attention so far witnessed since the itinerant herdsmen opened their wild killings on an industrial scale, to the extent that every ethnic group in the country and indeed the globe have risen to condemn the hei­nous act as criminal and bar­baric.

President Muhammadu Bu­hari while condemning the Enugu attack, did not only di­rect the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonishakin and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, to imme­diately secure communities un­der the attacks of herdsmen, he also gave a presidential directive that the perpetrators of these dastardly acts be arrested and brought to justice.

The President’s intervention which was sequel to a meeting he had with the Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ug­wuanyi, who was at the presi­dential villa to brief the Presi­dent on the unfortunate incident and seek the best ways to tackle the inherent challenges with cir­cumspection, could be best de­scribed as a major breakthrough towards finding lasting solution to the menace of the herdsmen. I commend the President for his prompt and decisive decision. I hope that the outcome of his directive will yield the expected positive result.

There is no doubt that Gover­nor Ugwuanyi, who first visited the traumatised Nimbo com­munity to sympathise with them and offer necessary assistance to the survivors and families of the deceased, displayed a deep sense of maturity and wisdom in han­dling the matter by not making inciting comments that could have allowed a reprisal attack.

Even though, the governor’s peace approach was initially misunderstood and mistaken as a sign of weakness, especially in the social media, the recent turn of events have vindicated his wisdom in calming frayed nerves and maturely de-escalat­ing the very tense situation.

He did not stop at that, he as­sured the people of the state that he will do everything possible within his constitutional pow­ers to put an end to the menace of the herdsmen and bring the culprits to justice. Today, I am elated that he has taken decisive actions towards fulfilling his as­surances through his adminis­tration’s donation of a seed fund of N100m for the reactivation of Neighbourhood Watch in all the communities in the state, redeployment of the then Com­missioner of Police by the Police headquarters, among others.

At the time the people were reacting negatively in the social media against the governor’s ap­proach to the matter, I was con­vinced that his stance on peace, against outright retaliation or reprisal attacks was in the over­all interest of Ndigbo, especially our brothers and sisters who re­side in the Northern parts of the country. I saw the consequences of a reprisal attack on our inno­cent brothers and sisters in the North who would fall victims to a possible counter-attack. I won­dered what would have been their fate if such an ugly incident occurred. I asked myself, would all these people criticising the governor’s peace approach in the social media come to their rescue if anything strange hap­pens? Of course not! The loss would have been unimaginable and regrettable in all its ramifi­cations. I thank God that it did not happen. I equally thank Governor Ugwuanyi too for making it not to happen.

All these in mind, compelled my recent post in the social me­dia supporting the mature and peaceful approach of the gov­ernor in handling the matter. I commended his wisdom and maturity and assured him that posterity will be kind to him at the end of the day for not allow­ing a reprisal attack that would have sparked counter-attack on our loved ones especially those in the North.

Today, the governor’s matu­rity has brought a radiant hope towards a new order of national unity and integration among our brothers and sisters from other tribes of the country. It has proved that most wars do not end through the barrel of the gun but through the ability to identify peace as the best alter­native measure.

I was touched by the narrative of the governor on his painstak­ing efforts to forestall the attack on Nimbo and the assurances given to him by the security agencies that the attack will not happen.

After the governor’s press con­ference on the attack on Nimbo community, I did not hesitate to concur with his stance that only the security agencies can answer the question concerning what happened in Nimbo between 6.30am and 7.30 am on the day the attack took place despite as­surances from them.

According the governor, “after receiving these assurances of de­ployments to Nimbo, I felt quite confident that we had done ev­erything possible to forestall an attack on Nimbo.

“Sadly, in the early hours of Monday reports of this carnage reached me. More disturbing was the report that the attack of innocent and defenceless citi­zens were carried out at about 6 30 am.

“Further reports available to me indicate that apart from the killing and maiming of innocent and defenceless citizens of Nim­bo, a Church was also burnt. Following this development, I engaged the security agencies in order to ensure that the Nimbo area was secured from further attacks that might escalate the situation.

“On Tuesday, April 26, I vis­ited Nimbo in order to establish firsthand the extent of carnage. My visit to Nimbo was reveal­ing. I came face to face with the wounded and the bereaved. I saw burnt and damaged person­age of Christ Holy Church. I saw a traumatised community in shock and despair. I saw a dead body. I wept. I wondered what has become of our quest for a united, peaceful and pros­perous nation. Our first national anthem had a phrase which went thus: “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brother­hood we stand.”

Still on Governor Ugwuanyi’s display of maturity, I was im­pressed with the kind words by the governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Pro­gressives Congress, APC, when they paid a condolence visit to Enugu to sympathise with the government and people of the state over the herdsmen attack.

The APC governors through their Forum’s Chairman, Gov­ernor Rochas Okorocha, con­demned the attack and com­mended Governor Ugwuanyi for the show of maturity in han­dling the provocative incident, describing it as a criminal act that cannot be associated with tribe, religion or political party.

I was equally glad to note that Governor Ibrahim Shettima of Borno State, who spoke on be­half of the Northern Governors under APC, told the people of Enugu State that they were in the state to register their profound condolence over the tragic loss.

According to him, “as a nation, we mourn and rejoice with each other at different times. We have lived with our brothers and sis­ters in the North-East ravaged by Boko-Haram for years. What kept us going was the empathy from people living outside the North-East. Times like this call for maturity, calmness, leader­ship role. We are one nation with a common destiny. The killers should be treated like criminals and should be fished out and dealt with.”

Also speaking, Governor of the State of Osun, Ogeni Rauf Aregbesola from the western part of the country, condemned the carnage as callous, saying that the people of Enugu State are not alone in this moment of grief as the Governors will col­laborate with the Federal Gov­ernment to put an end to the in­cessant killings by the herdsmen. He equally commended Gover­nor Ugwuanyi for the manner he has handled the matter by not allowing a reprisal attack.

In all, it seems that the sad incident in Nimbo and Gov. Ugwuanyi’s display of maturity in the face of provocation, have renewed the quest for national unity and integration, in line with the dreams and aspirations of our founding fathers.

Let us therefore, work together as a family to end these incessant killings and maiming of inno­cent and defenceless citizens of the country by the marauding herdsmen to be able to achieve our common goal for a prosper­ous and united Nigeria.

May the souls of all those that lost their lives in the recent car­nage in Nimbo and other parts of the country rest in perfect peace, and may those who per­petrated these heinous acts nev­er go unpunished, Amen.

*Levi, a political analyst writes from Enugu.