Senator Suleiman Adokwe, in this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, speaks about the latest crisis in Nasarawa State and the need to bring the perpetrators to justice
We learnt about an escalation of the crisis in Nasarawa State leading to calls by the State House of Assembly for emergency rule. What happened?
I was trapped in Lafia for two days. It was very clear that this was worse than a normal communal clash, it was a war situation. Soldiers came but they were not sufficient to contain the outbreak of hostilities. They had to draft soldiers from Makurdi, from Shandam and the Brigade of Guards from Keffi. All these meausres were taken before the situation was brought under control. I applaud the decision of Mr. President to deploy soldiers in the place. In fact, I had prepared a motion, I would have called for a state of emergency but at the moment, the deployment of soldiers is quite sufficient to mitigate the problem. If we study the situation and see that it is not sufficient, I am going to back members of the State House of Assembly who have called for a state of emergency.
We’ve had instances where the deployment of troops in such trouble spots does not end them; do you think this one will be different?
It is our prayer that the soldiers will bring the situation under control. I believe that no matter how sophisticated ethnic militias are, they can never overpower professional soldiers. I believe that soldiers have a duty to be limited in the operations that they execute because we don’t expect them to allow too much collateral damage. I would want the soldiers to be there for a while so that people can be assured that they can move around freely. If you are there and you know how these people operate, you will know that you cannot even move out to do anything. It has gone to the level that even farm products are being destroyed, I cannot understand it. It is a rebellion without cause. There is no stated objective for it. It is just sheer anarchy, I pray to God that the soldiers will be on top of it.
You say these people don’t have a stated objective, have you had dialogue with them?
If you get them, please ask them because I am at a loss myself. Some of the leaders of thought in the state have raised questions. Those who belong to that ethnic community that are leaders, we’ve asked them some questions. Nobody can say precisely what the problem is and the manner of operation is such that once one person is touched even in a private quarrel, it degenerates into a communal strife. It is senseless, it is shapeless, it is something you cannot predict at all. It can come any moment and fizzles away like that and the sad aspect of it is that nobody has been prosecuted as the law enforcement agencies seem to be incapacitated. Think of it, this is a militia that wiped out a contingent of security men, about 60 people and nobody has been arrested. They are so daring. And we wonder whether they are above the law, but now that the army moved in two days ago, they dared an army road block in Akwanga and I think that was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. I don’t know who to even ask. Let them come out for dialogue and if this is about the electoral process, let them wait for the time to vote out who they do not want or elect who they want. These are the options available to us but not the option of force and violence.
What measures do we adopt to solve this problem?
My ethnic nationality is Alago. The ethnic militia in question is Eggon and to the best of my knowledge, we have a long-standing history of political, religious and cultural affiliation. The only way we can stop this is for the elders of both communities to come together and ask themselves what is happening. If you ask most of the elders, they will tell you they can no longer control the youth. This is a very sad commentary on the state of our social values.
I was trapped in Lafia for two days. It was very clear that this was worse than a normal communal clash, it was a war situation. Soldiers came but they were not sufficient to contain the outbreak of hostilities. They had to draft soldiers from Makurdi, from Shandam and the Brigade of Guards from Keffi. All these meausres were taken before the situation was brought under control. I applaud the decision of Mr. President to deploy soldiers in the place. In fact, I had prepared a motion, I would have called for a state of emergency but at the moment, the deployment of soldiers is quite sufficient to mitigate the problem. If we study the situation and see that it is not sufficient, I am going to back members of the State House of Assembly who have called for a state of emergency.
We’ve had instances where the deployment of troops in such trouble spots does not end them; do you think this one will be different?
It is our prayer that the soldiers will bring the situation under control. I believe that no matter how sophisticated ethnic militias are, they can never overpower professional soldiers. I believe that soldiers have a duty to be limited in the operations that they execute because we don’t expect them to allow too much collateral damage. I would want the soldiers to be there for a while so that people can be assured that they can move around freely. If you are there and you know how these people operate, you will know that you cannot even move out to do anything. It has gone to the level that even farm products are being destroyed, I cannot understand it. It is a rebellion without cause. There is no stated objective for it. It is just sheer anarchy, I pray to God that the soldiers will be on top of it.
You say these people don’t have a stated objective, have you had dialogue with them?
If you get them, please ask them because I am at a loss myself. Some of the leaders of thought in the state have raised questions. Those who belong to that ethnic community that are leaders, we’ve asked them some questions. Nobody can say precisely what the problem is and the manner of operation is such that once one person is touched even in a private quarrel, it degenerates into a communal strife. It is senseless, it is shapeless, it is something you cannot predict at all. It can come any moment and fizzles away like that and the sad aspect of it is that nobody has been prosecuted as the law enforcement agencies seem to be incapacitated. Think of it, this is a militia that wiped out a contingent of security men, about 60 people and nobody has been arrested. They are so daring. And we wonder whether they are above the law, but now that the army moved in two days ago, they dared an army road block in Akwanga and I think that was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. I don’t know who to even ask. Let them come out for dialogue and if this is about the electoral process, let them wait for the time to vote out who they do not want or elect who they want. These are the options available to us but not the option of force and violence.
What measures do we adopt to solve this problem?
My ethnic nationality is Alago. The ethnic militia in question is Eggon and to the best of my knowledge, we have a long-standing history of political, religious and cultural affiliation. The only way we can stop this is for the elders of both communities to come together and ask themselves what is happening. If you ask most of the elders, they will tell you they can no longer control the youth. This is a very sad commentary on the state of our social values.
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