The Egbura National Development Association (ENDA), an umbrella body of all associations and unions of the Egbura people in Kogi and Nasarawa states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called on Kogi and Nasarawa state governments to take decisive actions to bring an end to communal clashes between Egbura and Bassa ethnic groups.
A statement co-signed by the National President and Secretary of ENDA, Prof. Ibrahim Aguye and Prof. Yusuf Aboki, respectively called on Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, to probe the intractable crisis between these ethnic groups in Bassa local government area with a view to bringing the culprits to book.
“We also appeal to his Excellency to facilitate the return of all the Egbura survivors displaced from the communities of Ogbonka, Ogbaozanyi, Ozugbe, Ahutara, Okanga and Ibiroko Egbura communities, all under Mozum Chiefdom of Bassa LGA of Kogi state, who are currently Internally Displaced Persons in Umaisha and surrounding communities in Nasarawa state as well as Lokoja and surrounding communities in Kogi state, back to their ancestral homes.
“Direct the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide them with relief materials especially more so that the Muslim Ramadan fast has begun. We further call on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come to the aid these displaced Egburas in Kogi state in the areas of provision of relief materials,” the statement read in parts.
In a similar vein, ENDA called on governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state, to unearth the causes of the current crisis in Toto LGA.
“Nasarawa state government should unmask the masquerades behind the latest crisis which we have every reason to believe, has political undertone. His Excellency should also act to bring those who are hell bent on rubbishing the uncommon feats achieved by his government through ignition of crisis in flash points across the state as we approach the 2019 general elections. It is our belief that government has the capacity to identify these Draculas who have made devilement their past time from which they make a living.
“Your Excellency should further seize this opportunity to reverse the inherently weird and provocative decision of every Bassas to indiscriminately settle at Ugya irrespective of where they were before 1997 crisis. We consider their decision weird and provocative because some of these Bassas were even from Kogi state. The decision of Bassas to all settle at Ugya and abandoning their villages and communities where they were before the crisis of 1997 clearly does not and cannot bring about the much needed peace. This is because apart from the feeling of insecurity on the part of Egburas who, as a result, got encircled by the Bassas, their action also led to the dislodgement of the Egbura from their farmlands, their ancestral homes and so on.
“Their argument that they could chose to settle any where they deem fit since every land belongs to government is not tenable because even the law recognizes customary land holding system and how land may be owned is clear under the law. And certainly, the invasion of another man’s land in 21st century is not one of the ways to possess land. Government would do well, in our opinion, in the pursuit of peace at Ugya in particular, and Toto LGA in general, by reversing these highly illogical settlements.
“We further call on the state government to initiate genuine dialogue among the well meaning members of these ethnic groups while isolating for justice, the mischief makers who have continually stoked the fire while they are at safe distances from the fire. We call on both the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come to the aid our people displaced from their ancestral homes of Kolo, Kuwa, Kokoto, Kanyehu, Dausu, Ogba, Ugya, Katakpa, who are now Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Umaisha and environs,” ENDA posited.
The group commended the two governors for their prompt responses in deploying security personnel to quell the clashes in these places of their respective state as well as the security agencies that were sacrificing their sleep to ensure that peace and security returned to the areas.
FULL TEXT OF THE PRESS STATEMENT
The unfortunate communal crisis in Toto LG: Before the truth is killed
The attention of Egbura National Development Association (ENDA) has been drawn to press statements issued by Bassa Cultural and Development Union (BCDU) and its youth wing, Bassa Cultural Youth Organization (BCYO), in which they laboured in vain to manipulate the public on the remote and immediate cause(s) of the recent communal clashes between Egbura and Bassa ethnic groups in Toto Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa state and Bassa LGA in Kogi state.
ENDA is the umbrella body of all Associations and Unions of Egburas in Kogi and Nasarawa states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
But for the sake of unsuspecting public, we would have made a “No case submission” and the reason for this is simple: they failed. They failed in their attempts to play the victims once again even when facts abound that they started the fire and as a result got their fingers burnt.
Though, good at propaganda, yet they failed because the public is wiser and the case at hand is glaring enough for the public to draw informed conclusion. But, because we are not unmindful of the fact that when a lie is allowed to linger on for too long it acquires a semblance of truth and unsuspecting public begins to believe it as the truth, we feel we have a duty to put the records straight. Though, in war, it is said, truth is the first casualty, this time we will not allow the truth to be manipulated. We will tell it and we will tell it all.
How it all started this time
On April 22, 2018, Ogbonka, Ogbaozanyi, Ozugbe, Ahutara, Okanga and Ibiroko Egbura communities, all under Mozum Chiefdom in Kogi state, were attacked, their houses razed and many residents killed by mercenaries of Bassas for no immediate reasons. We say there was no immediate reason(s) because although there had been no love lost relationship between the two ethnic groups leading to some skirmishes in the recent past, there is nothing to point at this time as the reason(s) for the latest invasion of the two communities by Bassas and their hired goons. As we speak, the Egburas who survived the onslaught are now taking refuge in other friendly communities in Kogi and Nasarawa States.
Being neighbouring communities to many in Nasarawa state, the attacks on these communities naturally elicited apprehension on the side of the Egburas in Nasarawa state. It then followed that we needed to guard our loins in Ugya and other communities. The need to watch out further became imperative when, on April 23, 2018, Bassas began to evacuate en mass from Ugya and other Egbura communities. The benefit of hindsight has taught us that the moment we see Bassas evacuating in droves then there is danger lurking around. Indeed, some kindhearted Bassas closed to Egburas informed them that they (Bassas) had been told to leave the area as the Bassas had decided the sack the Egburas of the Toto LGA of Nasarawa state as they did to their kith and kins in Kogi state.
Consequent upon this privileged information we promptly alerted the security agents of the pending attacks. And the following morning they did attacked. On the wee hours of April 24, 2018, obviously bolstered by their unchallenged onslaught on Egbura communities in Kogi state, mercenaries clad in red clothe invaded Ugya community and other Egbura communities in Toto LGA of Nasarawa state, killing several persons and razing a number of houses. Yet again, Ugya and other communities came under attack more than 20 years after the last one, by hirelings of Bassas for no justifiable reason. Unfortunately, they struck before the security could mobilise and deploy to the communities.
Fortunately however, the security was able to bring the mayhem under control in no distant time by halting the advancement of the marauding mercenaries. A number of them were arrested with their weapons by the Military in conjunction with the Nigerian Police and paraded in Lafia, the state capital, as reported in some national dailies, especially, on the page 5 of the Daily Trust edition of April 27, 2018.
In that report, Daily Trust Newspapers quoted the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Texas Chukwu, as saying, “Troops of the Nigerian Army 177 Guards Battalion in conjunction with the Nigerian Police arrested five suspected militia members in Nasarawa state.” The paper further reported Gen. Chukwu as adding that “the suspects were apprehended while the troops were on a raid in Ugya town of Toto LGA of Nasarawa state,” and that “the suspects were all of Bassa tribe of the state.”
On May 11, 2018, Ugya community once again came under attack while Egburas were in the Mosque for Friday’s prayers. It took the efforts of the ever vigilant security personnel to repel the attackers. As a result, while four of the Bassa attackers were arrested, a Spiritual home which also serves as their armory was discovered stockpiled with sophisticated arms and four “Ghana must go” bags of ammunitions at Ugya community.
Furthermore, on Monday, May 14, 2018, the same Ugya community, which has been taken over by the Military since the beginning of the crisis in April, was once more attacked. Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier Gen. Texas Chukwu, in a press statement reported by Vanguard Newspaper of May 15, 2018 said “Nigerian Army has said its troops of 177 Guards Battalion, Keffi, in Nasarawa state, arrested a militia spiritual leader based in Toto LGA of the state. The spiritual Head of the militia group, one Angulu Idaku, was also arrested.”
The Newspaper further quoted Gen. Chukwu as listing items recovered from the militia to include: “Seven locally made guns, 12 cartridges, 200 rounds of 7.62MM special ammunition, 76 rounds of 7.62MM NATO special ammunition, four knives, 15 cutlasses, six mobile phones, one DSP decoder set and four panel sets.”
The latest of their onslaught against Ebgura and their land was that of Friday, May 18, 2018, when they launched a broad daylight assault on Umaisha, the headquarters of Opanda Chiefdom, shortly after the Egburas commenced Friday’s prayers. But, since God is always on the side of the innocent they could not achieve their mission. A number of them were apprehended and handed over to the security that arrived shortly after.
Apart from Ugya which has experienced sustained attacks by Bassas, surrounding villages such as Kolo, Katakpa and Ogba have also come under attacks on different days, as well as many other Egbura communities in Toto LGA which are still experiencing guerilla styled attacks here and there and lives as well as property are being lost as a result even as we address the press.
Media war amidst spurious allegations
We are aware that a number of press statements have been made under different nebulous groups for Bassas, but we have been silent until now because we believe the facts are there for the public to distinguish between the aggressor and the victims. At least, the arrests and the parades of some Bassa mercenaries and their weapons so far have revealed the real aggressor.
Even though we have chosen to speak up now, this does not deduct from our believe that truth is sacred and that it’s more so in the face of avalanche of evidence based on facts which are as unshakable as the Rock of Gibraltar. It is our belief that the arrests made of the red uniformed mercenaries and that of the spiritual head will eventually reveal the true identities and the personalities behind them.
In one of their press statements, some notable traditional and political personalities, such as Ohimege Opanda, His Highness Alhaji Usman Abdullahi, Member, House of Representatives representing Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency, Hon. Mohammed Ja’afaru Ibrahim, Member, state House of Assembly representing Toto/Gadabuke constituency, Hon. Saidu Galadima and Chairman, Interim Management Committee of Toto LGC, Hon. Nuhu Dauda, were named as accomplices in the crisis because, according to the statement, they failed to speak up.
But, pray! Since when has maintaining a studied silence amounts to being an accomplice in a crisis? In any case, is there any standard or universally approved channel through which they must speak if they must be heard or noticed to have spoken? Or did they expect these personalities to join the bandwagon in making inciting and unhelpful comments as their leaders are currently engaged in making? How are they sure these personalities have not routed their concerns through the right and or proper channels and accordingly, helped in dousing the crisis? Well, these personalities are actually the ones behind the scene making efforts to bring the crisis to an end.
Similarly, to show that sponsors of these statements have either scant knowledge about how things should properly be placed or done or are simply agents of balefulness, they erroneously or provocatively addressed Ohimege Opanda as Second Class Chief in one of their press statements. Well, for the records, the revered Paramount Ruler is a First Class Chief and Chairman, Traditional Council of Toto LGA of Nasarawa state.
Even when it is not in our character to go to town with allegations of their sponsors, we are constrained to give the concerned authorities some promising lead that would prove useful if followed. For instance, we are aware that a prominent personality who is also a traditional ruler, and a politician both in Kogi state, a high ranking officer with one of the anti-graft bodies and a top civil servant in the legal department of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as a one-time Chairman of Toto LGA, who are all sons of Bassa and their conspirators within and without Nasarawa and Kogi states, are some of the notable sponsors of this latest terror being visited on Egburas and their communities in the two states. But, like we said, this is just a lead because our belief in the ability of the authorities to do their job remains unwavering.
We further believe that in the fullness of time they would be unmasked and made to pay for their crimes against the state, the Egburas and indeed, against their easily manipulated people who often bear the brunt of their misguided actions.
Background
It is important to remind the public that this crisis is not the first. It is only the latest out of the many aggressions visited on the Egburas and their communities since 1980s by the Bassas ostensibly for the “sin” of our forefathers who welcomed them when they were driven away during reign of Nagwamatse who waged war against them due to their unbearable warring tendencies as shown by history.
Timeline of their campaigns of carnage and terror against Egburas and their communities.
Their aggressions have since seen them raiding various Egbura communities of Toto LGA since 1980s.
For instance, in 1980 they attacked and killed the Egburas of Itu community including the village Head. Egburas have since then remain sacked from Itu community till date.
In 1986 they also attacked Kanyehu, Zono and Umaisha communities killing many and destroying unquantifiable number of properties.
In 1995 the Bassas took their aggressions a notch higher by sacking Ugya community through maiming and killing of every Egbura in sight. In that aggression alone, more than 60 aged men, women, youth and children were either killed through gun shots or had their throats slit and their corpses burnt to ashes. In this crisis, children were seized from the back of their mothers and thrown into burning fire.
In 1997, there was another crisis resulting in the killing of the Councilor-elect of Shege ward, Yahaya Abubakar Sadiq, an Egbura man. In that round of their campaign of mass murder and land grabbing, luck ran out of them because it led to their displacement from the entire Toto LGA.
Our prayers
- Kogi state
- We call on His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, to probe the seemingly intractable crisis between these ethnic groups in Bassa LGA with a view to bringing the culprits, who have made peace in this area, impossible to book.
- We also appeal to his Excellency to facilitate the return of all the Egbura survivors displaced from the communities of Ogbonka, Ogbaozanyi, Ozugbe, Ahutara, Okanga and Ibiroko Egbura communities, all under Mozum Chiefdom of Bassa LGA of Kogi state, who are currently Internally Displaced Persons in Umaisha and surrounding communities in Nasarawa state as well as Lokoja and surrounding communities in Kogi state, back to their ancestral homes.
- Direct the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide them with relief materials especially more so that the Muslim Ramadan fast has begun.
- We further call on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come to the aid these displaced Egburas in Kogi state in the areas of provision of relief materials.
- Nasarawa state
- We call on His Excellency, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Governor of Nasarawa state, to go beyond the usual government diplomatic appeal for peaceful coexistence, to unearthing the cause (s) of the current crisis in Toto LGA. The government must act without holding back to squarely put the blame where it belongs.
- The state government should unmask the masquerades behind the latest crisis which we have every reason to believe, has political undertone. His Excellency should also act to bring those who are hell bent on rubbishing the uncommon feats achieved by his government through ignition of crisis in flash points across the state as we approach the 2019 general elections. It is our belief that government has the capacity to identify these Draculas who have made devilement their past time from which they make a living.
- The government of His Excellency should further seize this opportunity to reverse the inherently weird and provocative decision of every Bassas to indiscriminately settle at Ugya irrespective of where they were before 1997 crisis. We consider their decision weird and provocative because some of these Bassas were even from Kogi state. The decision of Bassas to all settle at Ugya and abandoning their villages and communities where they were before the crisis of 1997 clearly does not and cannot bring about the much needed peace. This is because apart from the feeling of insecurity on the part of Egburas who, as a result, got encircled by the Bassas, their action also led to the dislodgement of the Egbura from their farmlands, their ancestral homes and so on. Their argument that they could chose to settle any where they deem fit since every land belongs to government is not tenable because even the law recognizes customary land holding system and how land may be owned is clear under the law. And certainly, the invasion of another man’s land in 21st century is not one of the ways to possess land. Government would do well, in our opinion, in the pursuit of peace at Ugya in particular, and Toto LGA in general, by reversing these highly illogical settlements.
- We further call on the state government to initiate genuine dialogue among the well meaning members of these ethnic groups while isolating for justice, the mischief makers who have continually stoked the fire while they are at safe distances from the fire.
- We call on both the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come to the aid our people displaced from their ancestral homes of Kolo, Kuwa, Kokoto, Kanyehu, Dausu, Ogba, Ugya, Katakpa, who are now Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Umaisha and environs.
Commendations
We commend Governor Al-Makura of Nasarawa state and his Kogi state counterpart, Alhaji Yayaha Bello, for their prompt responses in deploying security personnel to quell the clashes in these places of their respective state.
Our commendation also goes to the security personnel who are sacrificing their sleep to ensure that peace and security returns to the LGA .
Signatures: Prof. Ibrahim Aguye, President, ENDA; Prof Yusuf Aboki, National Secretary, ENDA
