Benue Killing: Fulanis Are Planning To Exterminate The Middle Belt Over Land Occupation –Prof. Iorapuu
Yakubu Busari
A Professor of theatre arts and Dean, Faculty of Arts at the University of Jos, Plateau State, Professor Tor Iorapuu, has expressed worries over the theatre of killings being experienced in some parts of Nigeria is secret plan to exterminate the middle belt people over land grabbing .
He said the manifested killings going on in Benue, Kaduna, Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa states in the North Central zone and gradually taking toll to south west parts of the Country is far beyond what people are describing as ‘genocide’, saying it is a calculated plan to exterminate a section if the people in the country.
He wonder why the blood of innocent Women, Children are being wasted on daily bases, yet the President continued to keep mute,during reign of Sen. Jonah David Jang these people criminalised him is Jang now in Benue, Enugu and Taraba states we need to be very careful to me this is a total failure of Nigeria democracy .
Tor Iorapuu, who is also the CEO of Youth, Adolescent, Reflection And Action Center, YARAC;an NGO based in Jos, who spoke with our correspondent Thursday evening at the NUJ premises in Jos, express worries over consequences the recent invasion on Benue Communities by marauding fulanis could cause the country.
“I have fought for the return of democracy and lost my scholarship but when democracy returns I stood for Buhari for his past records of achievement while he served as GOC, 3 Div for dealing with Maitasin back to Chad and Cameron, the prof explains.
According to him, President Buhari has disappointed many Nigerians, including himself, for deliberately not doing well in management of the security of the country.
“Am particularly disappointed with President Buhari because the Buihari we used to know could not demonstrate the qualities we saw in him before we voted him into power.
“From my students union politics I kept supporting Buhari because when he was the GOC in 3rd Armoured Division, Rukuba, in Plateau state we were overwhelmed with the action he took when he stormed Cameron to stop invaders into the country.
” In fact some of us paid dearly for supporting Buhari, I was made to lose scholarship because of him, but let me tell you, because of the qualities I saw in him supported and voted for him all the the times he had contested to be the President of this country and eventually emerged in 2015.
“But now am disappointed with with what he is doing, particularly the way and manner he is meaning the security situation in Benue State where I come from.
“We heard fillers that Buhari had hands in the killings in Benue that’s why he had dragged his feet so much in compelling the need to enforce his powers on security apparatus towards activating the problem in Benue before it reaches the present stage.
“The game plan as we had it is that the he doesn’t want the anti grazing law to succeed, so he refused to take action so that when the killings continue, and there is massive reaction from Benue natives, he will slam a state of emergency on the state, where a sole administrator with put in place to work out ways of repealing the law”.
” And one thing he fails to understand is that as he is dragging feet in curtailing these killings, using his good office as the Commander in chief the last resort would be that the people will one day come out to say, No!, this is enough, and this could lead us to another civil war.
“Right now, as I speak to you, am going to fight Buhari, using my PVC, in 2019, I will make sure I mobilize and vote him out. He has failed this nation”.
He debunked the insinuation making the round by the security chiefs and the Myiatty Allah Battle Bleeders Association that, the security situation in Benue is a communal clash, saying they are just using propaganda to achieve selfish interests.
He however blamed the civil society organizations for not rising up to responsibility to rapidly approaching the authority to see the need to stop the violence extremism being perpetuated in Benue state by armed fulani herdsmen.
” Except the civil societies organizations are saying we dividend, if not I could not see goodwill in them as the attack on the Benue communities is concern.
“When Jos was on fire, I saw the personality representatives of CEOs of Civil society organizations that thronged into jos to perform one function or the other, but the case of Benue is different, and I ask, are we divided?.
The systematic faces of attack which I drew the attention of people of the middle belt yet nobody listen to me ,I said that this crisis started with bow and arrow ,transform to the use of guns and bombing now gradually leading occupation ,he added.
” Finally, let me tell you, these attacks going on in the middle belt states is a rehearsal for civil war, their plan is that when they succeed Benue and Plateau states, for them they are good to go”.
