7 September 2008
opinion
Lagos — A few weeks ago, little things lsuch as fetching stones from the bush and paying royalty to the traditional institution ignited a fire of crisis in Ataganyi/Omelemu communities in Benue State. What followed the crisis were deaths, tears, sorrows and blood as well as massive refugee. As efforts are being made to resolve yet another communal clash in the state, both communities are demanding justice and fairness. Abel Orih-Idoma writes
Sunday July 13, 2008, would forever remain indelible on the minds of two elderly brothers, Pa Baba Onuminya and Pa Paul Anyebe. Both lost their two sons, Elijah Baba and Benjamin Paul, all first children in their respective families. The two aged men who have been depending on the strength of their two children would now have to face the horrifying hazard of life with their weak strength. Pa Onuminya is now close to 70 years, while his junior brother Paul is 65 years. The irony of the great loss is how the two elderly men would now have to cope with added responsibility towards their grandchildren.
With tears rolling down the cheeks of Pa Onuminya, he vaguely asked of what would become the fate of their grand-children, 17 in all. Elijah Baba has six children, while his cousin Paul had 11, but fate would not allow them the opportunity to see their children through in life, hence the bulk now lies with their aged parents who are already too weak and frail to shoulder such enormous task of providing for themselves, talk more of seeing to the needs of their grandchildren.
The two cousins had to pay with their dear lives for daring to lodge a complaint of harassment at a Police Station in Ugbokpo, Apa Local Government Area, against youths from their neighbouring community of Ataganyi in the same local government. Their complaint was that the youths from Ataganyi launched an attack on youths from their area, the Omelemu community when they went on a mission to collect abandoned stones, with which they wanted to protect the foundation of the building of their primary school against threatening erosion.
It was unfortunate that the cousins have to pass through the Ataganyi village on their way home from the Police Station, and youths from the village allegedly kidnapped them to unknown destination and killed them for daring to report them to the police, a situation which consequently sparked off a bloody clash between the two communities, especially with the corpse of Benjamin still missing till-date.
THISDAY investigation on the two communities revealed great loss of lives and property, particularly on the side of the Ataganyi settlement where no single soul could be seen in sight even as the entire village was reduced to a shadow of itself, with buildings and valuable properties vandalised to the highest point. Unconfirmed reports however, had it that the village suffered a great number of casualties during the crisis as militants were allegedly hired to prosecute the war against the Ataganyi community whose inhabitants were said to be settlers from elsewhere while the people of Omelemu community had lived in the area for decades.
Speaking on the crisis, the traditional ruler of Apa, Ada'Kapa, Chief John Antenyi, who lamented over the ugly situation, said the crisis was alien to his people and wondered why the question of stone collection for a community project should generate war. He assured that everything is being done to bring the situation under perfect and permanent control.
According to him, "We see our brothers as one, but be that as it may, the devil has its own way of doing things always. The genesis of the crisis between the Ataganyi and Omelemu communities of Apa local government has remote and immediate causes.
The remote cause can be attributed to the bad blood that has been generated between these two communities as a result of over a dispute about two bush-mango trees (Ogbono trees). They had a disagreement over the ownership of those two bush mango stands; while the clan head of Ataganyi was laying claim to those stands as bonafide property of his community and the royalty or proceeds gotten from such trees be paid to him, the people of Omelemu were claiming custodian of the two bush mango-trees, and that they were property of Ojantele community whom they still pay royalty.
"The people of Omelemu, from history, owe allegiance to the clan head of Ojantele. Even before Ataganyi became an autonomous, community was equally paying allegiance to the Ojantele community until my predecessor, Chief Odangla Ogbu, made them gain autonomy. They became an autonomous clan with their own substantive clan-head. However, the allegiance of the Omelemu community never seized since they did not have their own autonomy and they are still paying their allegiance to the clan-head of Ojantele.
"As a result of that, the proceeds from those two bush-mango trees were paid as royalty to the clan-head of Ojantele, and that was the first disagreement they had, though they had minor disagreements in the past over this issue of allegiance or non-allegiance, which even led to a court litigation over the killing of a buffalo by a hunter from Omelemu.
"During the period, the clan-head of Ataganyi instituted an action against him for refusing to pay him an allegiance with the part of the killed buffalo. The case was decided in the court in favour of the hunter because the hunter said he had never or the Omelemu community had never paid any allegiance to the people of Ataganyi, but rather to the people of Ojantele.
Chief Antenyi maintained that the issue of the bush-mango trees created the bad blood between the two communities, but was quick to add that the issue was not left unresolved because the Apa Traditional Council waded into the issue when both communities reported the matter to it. He said the council went into action immediately and set up a committee which investigated the dispute, adding that the Council resolved the case in favour of the Omelemu community, stressing that the decision heightened the anger of the clan-head of Ataganyi and his people.
The traditional ruler maintained that, "few weeks later, the youths of Omelemu were gathering stones that were excavated and abandoned by Rockbridge Construction Company, the company handling the Otukpo - Oweto road. Those stones were abandoned in the bush by the construction company, and the Omelemu youths went to gather them for their school project when the youths of Ataganyi confronted them and prevented them from gathering the stones. This equally resulted into a fracas between them, and the village head of Omelemu ran to report the matter to Apa Traditional Council.
"The issue of the bush-mango trees snow-balled into this issue of stone gathering, and so when the village head of Omelemu came to complain that they were been prevented by the people of Ataganyi from gathering abandoned stones in the bush, the Council had to summon the two communities, the clan-head of Ataganyi and his elders, the village head of Omelemu and his elders to talk peace with them.
"After hearing from them, the Council again resolved the case in favour of Omelemu and rebuked the clan-head of Ataganyi and told him that stones abandoned carelessly in the bush are never used as items for homage in our area. The Council appealed to him to prevail on his youths to desist from any act that could cause break down of law and order, but that intervention did not go down well with the clan-head of Ataganyi because if it had, he would have prevailed on his youths.
"On July 13, this year, the youths of Omelemu were again collecting those stones at the abandoned area when the youths of Ataganyi, again, confronted them, which resulted into loss of lives and destruction of property. That was the genesis of the crisis," he told THISDAY.
One obvious fact remains that while the momentum gathered, the local government council failed to play its role in stemming the tide, particularly as security reports emanating from within the local government area allegedly alerted the chairman of the council but he did not take preventive action. The death of the two cousins and a retired police Inspector from Ojantele which sparked off the war could have been averted with timely intervention of the council chairman, Mr. Cornelius Odeje.
According to former Chairman, Caretaker Committee Apa Local Government Council, Mr. Moses Atabo, the crisis would have been nipped in the bud if the Chief Security Officer of the Council had not undermined various signals of probable war situation been fed to him, particularly by himself, claiming that on various occasions the clan-head of Ataganyi approached him to intervene in the lingering crisis between his community and that of Omelemu community. The clan-head of Ataganyi was allegedly believed that only Atabo could ensure fair justice.
"It is unfortunate that this matter escalated to this point, but the person that actually reported this case to me first was the clan-head of Ataganyi, Chief Ada Oya, who came to my house on several occasions seeking for peace. He believed that with my disposition with the entire people of the local government, my intervention would definitely bring in fair justice and peace.
"Those appeals really gladdened my heart and I resolved to wade into the matter with a view to actually resolving it and bringing in the much desired peace. But this dream could not come to reality as before we could make positive moves to resolve the issue, the unfortunate crisis erupted and the case went before the Apa Traditional Council, and finally the bloody attacks".
Atabo stressed that before the clash, he appealed to Oya to prevail on his subjects to embrace peace considering the consequences of any break down of law and order, but regretted that his pleas failed to make any meaningful impact, apportioning the whole blame on Ada who failed to listen to appeals from various ends.
The former chairman who claimed he spent so much money in ensuring the comfort of the security agents while curtailing the crisis, remarked that he had the cause to warn the vice chairman of Apa local government council to appeal to his chairman from where-ever he was while the area was engulfed in crisis, and threatened to report the chairman to the state government if the council failed to live to its biddings. He explained that three days after the clash, the local government council could still not respond to its responsibilities towards bringing the crisis under control. He however, commended the state government for the prompt action taken to ensure peace and order.
The Vice Chairman of Apa local government council, Mr. Maxwell Owoicho Oyi regretted that the crisis was alien to the Apa community, disclosing that the council promptly went into action as soon as the clash was noticed, saying "before we could move into the crisis area, a lot of destructions were done. On our part, we made concerted efforts to ensure that we returned all the fleeing members of the two communities back to their areas so that peace could be sustained, but each time we went to the Ataganyi village, we hardly find any soul."
On the allegation that the council failed to give quick attention to the issues that culminated to the crisis, Owoicho said, "it is a fact that the local government did not wade into the matter immediately. What happened was the conflict between the two communities did not start from the communities immediately; it was a group of people, two or three persons that were involved, and the first was between the Ataganyi community and the police.
"We were also made to understand however, that the crisis between the two communities was before the Apa Traditional Council, but the local government council was not informed until the war started. If we were aware earlier, we would have even gone on our knees to stop the crisis," he explained.
Owoicho however, asserted that the council swiftly went into action as soon as the war erupted by drafting security operatives to the two warring communities, but regretted that before they could get there loss of lives and property had taken place. He assured that normalcy has returned to the communities, except that the fleeing Ataganyi people are yet to return home.
Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Audu Achigili who condemned the crisis appealed to all the warring parties to put down their arms, while those who have fled their homes should return. He also assured that government has put adequate security measures in place to safeguard lives and property of everybody. Achigili who is also from the area, observed that people would stand to lose when there is threat to peace just as dividends of democracy would elude them. He regretted that the road construction from Otukpo-Oweto had been forced to a stop due to the crisis as no contractor would risk any war situation.
The SSG further warned that government would deal decisively with anyone caught breaching the peace of the people, stressing that the Suswam administration is strongly poised to improve on the lives of the people of the state and wondered why some group of people could choose to embark on distracting rather than encouraging the administration to provide more dividends of democracy for the people.
The State House of Assembly equally condemned the dastard act and lamented the gross destruction of lives and property in the area. It called on government to come to the aid of those displaced by the crisis and also evolve ways of ensuring that the fleeing members of the warring communities return back to their abode.
Member representing Apa Constituency, Hon. Dennis Abutu, appealed to his people to embrace peace so as to attract meaningful fall-outs from the present democratic dispensation, pointing out that no society would thrive in an atmosphere devoid of peace, stressing that he would represent the people competently to leave lasting legacies in the area.
Meanwhile, the people of Apa local government have been advised to eschew bitterness and live in peace and harmony with one another as no meaningful development could take place in a situation of chaos. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Conflict Resolutions and Boundary Matter, Mr. Titus Madugu, gave the advice at Ugbokpo while inaugurating a ten-member peace and security committee on the Omelemu-Ataganyi crisis. Madugu who implored the committee to live above board by being impartial, charged it to ensure the return of residents of Ataganyi village to their homes as their continued desertion of the village could prolong the crisis.
Chairman of the committee, Mr. Sunday Olegi, who spoke on behalf of members, pledged never to betray the confidence reposed in them, but ensured that they would complete the assignment within the stipulated period. Similarly, the Chairman Apa local government council, Mr. Cornelius Odeje has pledged his administration's effort to bring back all the fleeing members of the warring communities to their homes and resettle them under a conducive atmosphere. He expressed appreciation to the state government for coming to the rescue of the people of the area.
The crisis has come and gone leaving traces of long-lasting scars on the innocent people, particularly Pa Baba and his junior brother Paul who lost their two sons to the crisis. Government should make concerted efforts to recover the corpse of the late Benjamin Anyebe whose remain still remain missing, or more so, find him for the aged parents if he is still alive. This has become expedient because they've threatened to murder peace until his where-about is known.
It is also imperative for the traditional councils to define the mode of paying allegiance and to who at given times because this pending issue of paying royalty between the two warring communities may still rear its ugly head in time to come, and who knows the magnitude of the attendant consequences. A stitch in time saves nine.
Local governments should also cultivate the habit of assisting their communities in their projects. The case of Omelemu is a good example. If the local government had bothered to take a look at the dilapidated structure of the only primary school in Omelemu, they would have certainly addressed the issue of erosion threatening the school building and the youths of the community would have not gone gathering stones to help themselves, which resulted to the fracas that visited the two communities. Of what importance is any local government to the people at the grassroots if such an institution cannot look round and identify the priority needs of the people?
It has become imperative also for both Ataganyi and Omelemu people to lay down their arms now and embrace peace so as to rebuild their homes for progress. Their children are presently out of school and that is a serious threat to the development of the entire people of the area just as the situation of breeding children without hope for future strongly speaks volume of perpetual armed robbers and dissidents in the society, which is even more dangerous than imagined.
There is strong need for political leaders from Apa and its environs to put their heads together for proper enlightenment of their people and embrace good representation because already, there is strong signal of disenchantment on the part of a larger segment of the locals.
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