Omala Stakeholders Forum, a pressure group from Omala Local Government, Kogi State, has condemned strongly the recent gruesome murder of at least 36 locals in Agojeju-Odo by criminal elements.
A communiqué from it’s April 6th, 2024 meeting in Abuja, Nigeria said the Forum said the “heinous attack on the peaceful community of Agojeju-Odo by suspected armed Fulani herders led to the killing of about 36 persons with several others sustaining severe gunshot injuries.”
Agojeju-Odo is a community under Omala Local Government.
The communique signed by Col. Paul Baba (rtd), the Convener,
Dr James Odaudu, the Co-Convener and Barr. Emmanuel Maji – Secretary said the attack was “unwarranted”.
They noted that “the recurrence of such gruesome attacks by the same suspected group of Fulani herdsmen on peaceful Omala communities with high number of casualties can no longer be tolerated and should no longer be allowed.”
“The Forum rejects, in its entirety, the attempts to paint the unwarranted and callous murder of defenceless inhabitants of the village in the colours of inter-communal crisis, as Agojeju-Odo was not, and is not at war with any of its sister communities” the communique indicated.
“We charge security agents and the appropriate authorities to go after the perpetrators to account for shedding innocent blood. We belief that government and security agencies have what it takes to arrest the murderers and make them face the full wrath of the law” the Forum called.
Omala Stakeholders Forum further expresses sadness over the inability of appropriate authorities to heed to our earlier warning on the increasing influx of heavily-armed herdsmen since the beginning of Year 2024, a development that had caused fear and anxiety among our farming communities, and for which we cried out to no avail.
“The herders have proven unmanageable and unfriendly and engaged in incessant violence and attacks within the troubled Local Government Area over the years despite our spirited efforts to intervene for peace to reign. Burnt houses and destroyed farmlands are testaments of their heinous crime in several villages in Omala Local Government Area.
The tragic incidences in Bagana, Agbenema, Obakume, Opada, Odumukpo, Iyade and others with heavy casualty figures and economic losses are still fresh in our memories with the people yet to recover from their losses nor respite from appropriate government agencies” they indicated.
According to them, the “assailants, according to very reliable information, often cross the river Benue from the neighbouring Nasarawa State into Omala Local Government Area in the northern part of Kogi State to wreak havoc in villages and communities and also destroy farms after which they would retreat without confrontation from security agencies.”
“This has also led to pockets of crises across the Local Government Area which we have brought to the attention of authorities in recent weeks without any concrete response. The tragedy of Agojeju-Odo would have been averted, if our outcry and early warnings were responded to, and we are extremely grieved that the attack on this farming community has left it a ghost of itself” they noted.
They further stated that the casualty figure of Agojeju-odo massacre was the highest among the frequent attacks by the Fulani assailants on the Local Government, being vulnerable as a result of its borders with Nasarawa and Benue States where there have been similar crises.
“We, by this, call on the Government at all levels to take immediate action by constituting a high-powered fact-finding panel to unravel the root causes of the incessant attacks and to reprimand anyone who has played a role in this ignoble act of annihilation of our people. This is to avoid further attacks and the breakdown of law and order, as the people may not have any choice than to take steps to protect themselves, no matter how futile it might be.”
“This call has become more urgent with the onset of the rainy season / farming, as the continued presence of the marauding herders constitutes a permanent danger to the people who are mainly farmers, and would not permit any agricultural activity to take place safely and peacefully.”
“We also appeal to the federal and the Kogi State governments to take urgent steps towards the rehabilitation of all the displaced people and provide palliative measures to mitigate their sufferings, even as they hope to return to their ancestral homes in peace” they appealed.
