Tit for Tat
Soldiers invade five villages in Benue State , allegedly killing more than 200 Tiv inhabitants and putting the state on the boil.

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By Anza Philips - Newswatch Magazine

The army seems to have made good its threat to deal with those who killed 19 soldiers in Benue State . Last week soldiers invaded Tiv villages and allegedly killed more than 200 civilians. Among those killed in the raid covering five villages was an uncle of Victor Malu, a retired general and former chief of army staff. The raid was allegedly carried out by troops from 23rd Armoured Brigade, Yola, Adamawa State in Tiv settlements in Vaase, Gbeji, Anyiim and Iorjia.

The soldiers summoned a meeting of the villagers as soon as they arrived Vaase, in eight armoured vehicles under the pretext that they were to make peace. They allegedly separated the men from the women and opened fire on the unsuspecting and defenceless men.

At Malu’s village, Newswatch learnt that apart from killing the village head, Malu’s uncle, the soldiers, burnt the remains of the village head and his wife in a house, after which the house was levelled. The attack came on the heels of an ultimatum by President Olusegun Obasanjo to security agents last Monday to track down all those persons who abducted and killed 19 soldiers on peace-keeping mission in the crisis-ridden Benue - Taraba border, October 11. He gave the order in Abuja during the national funeral of the murdered soldiers on Monday October 22.

The president directed security agents to fish out the perpetrators of the crime for prosecution, assuring that no such slaying of soldeirs in the country would ever happen again. He described the death of the soldiers, who were killed in Vaase village in Ukum local government area of Benue State by Tiv ethnic militia, as an attempt to destabilise the country, and that the “dastardly act was intended to cause disaffection among the nation’s armed forces and engender crisis in the country.”

The president’s speech is in conformity with the resolution of the National Security Council, NSC. Members of the council had during an emergency meeting in Abuja , Monday, October 15, threatened to declare a state of emergency in Benue and Taraba States should the fratricidal conflict between the Tiv and Jukun persist. The meeting, which was presided over by Atiku Abubakar, the vice-president, with George Akume and Jolly Nyame, governors of Benue and Taraba, respectively in attendance was specifically convened as a result of the killing of the soldiers.

Defence headquarters, DHQ, on Wednesday, October 17, announced the setting up of an intellegence committee to track down the killers of the soldiers in Benue as the army confirmed sending more troop reinforcement to the state. Ibrahim Ogohi, admiral and chief of defence staff in an earlier reaction to the killing of the soldiers cautioned members of the public against attacking soldiers on peace-keeping mission.

The senate had also backed the involvement of the army in tracking down the perpetrators of the murder. Sponsoring a motion on the incident which was unanimously agreed upon, Dalhatu Sangari, PDP senator from Taraba, said the act perpetrated by the ethnic militia in Benue State was not only very callous, but barbaric. He said: “This act if left unpunished has the propensity to create dangerous impression.”

Alexander Ogomudia, lieutenant-general and army chief of staff, in his funeral oration last Monday lamented the loss of the soldiers, whom he described as some of the finest breed who were on national duty to restore peace among the warring Tiv - Jukun communities.

The names of the slain soldiers were given as A. Mustapha, a captain and leader of the team, Hiver Ibok, a sergeant, Haruna Samari and Samuel Maduabuchi all corporals. Others include, Yakubu Sanni, Abdul Usman, Mu’azu Lawal, Memoye Omuku, Ali Abdul’azeez, Ado Yaloji, Bala Umar and Abdul Adamu. The list also include Mark Omije, Alamina Alasale, Mu’azu Isah, Ahmeda Hassan, Ahmadu Yusuf, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Azeez Mutairu.

Akume had earlier tendered unreserved apologies to the president in particular and Nigerians in general over the incident, which he said, was a case of “mistaken identity.”

A government house source told Newswatch in Makurdi last week that although the state government deeply regrets the loss of lives of the soldiers, the government feels that the issue be thoroughly investigated to establish the true identity of the group, their number, who and why they were deployed in Benue State territories without the knowledge of the government or the Ukum or Logo council chairmen in Benue State. This is said to have become neccessary because even at the time of the burial of the soldiers on October 22, there were still conflicting accounts regarding the number of soldiers that were killed. Whereas army sources had initially put the number of slain soldiers at 16, local sources gave the number as 23, but 19 were buried last Monday. The confusion regarding the exact number of soldiers killed has given weight to the claim by the Tiv that the soldiers were not on a “genuine mission to Vaase.”

As the nation mourns the death of the soldiers, fresh reasons have been given on why the Tiv militia attacked them.

lortyom Laha, a spokesman of the Tiv in Taraba State told Newswatch that the 4 motorised battalion of the Nigeria Army based in Takum, Taraba State consistently and actively participated in the Tiv-Jukun crisis in the state in the past.

He said that the local people had made representations to the commanding officer, including the letter of February 12, 1993 on the breakdown of law and order in Wukari. Another letter dated March 2, 1993 , also sent to remind him about the illicit activities of the army detachment deployed to Wukari to maintain law and order. The community also wrote to GOC 3 Armoured Division Nigeria Army in March 1993, alleging bias by the soldiers in peace-keeping exercise in the area.

Similarly, Laha said during the General Abdulkarim Adisa (rtd) boundary adjustment exercise, Peva village was ceded to Katsina Ala local government area of Benue State . Despite this, the Jukun in Takum refused to hand over Peva market to the authorities of Katsina Ala council of Benue State . Instead, armoured vehicles were brought from Takum and stationed in the market to prevent the take over.

He told Newswatch that in the early stage of the current crisis, soldiers from the 4 MOT battalion of the Nigeria Army, Takum were again engaged by the Jukun in their war against Tiv at the Kashimbila axis. During the incident, he told Newswatch, armoured vehicles were deployed to protect Jukun settlements as a shield for the Jukun.

According to Laha, a day after the October 7, attack on Tor Damsa, a Tiv settlement area in Donga local government area of Taraba State during the present crisis, soldiers were again brought from Takum and stationed at Akate, a Jukun town between Tor Damsa and Donga town, apparently to defend Akate.

Newswatch learnt that a day after the attack on Jootar, a border town in Benue State , soldiers moved in with armoured tanks and occupied the town without the knowledge of the Benue State government. George Akume, governor of Benue State , who confirmed this told Newswatch that when he visited Jootar on Monday September 12, 2001 , and demanded to know from the soldiers who deployed them to Benue State , they admitted that they were deployed from Yola.

Earlier, Paul Iyorpuu Unongo, a former minister of steel and President-General, Tiv Progressive Movement in a petition to President Obasanjo, dated November 14, 2000, and titled “Federal Troops and Armoured vehicles (tanks) lead Chamba-Jukun warriors in war against the Tiv nation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” alleged that, “a section of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stationed in Takum, were aiding the Chamba and Jukun in the war.

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