Legal practitioners, under the umbrella of the Association of Idoma Lawyers (Owa Ka’Okepo Ki’Idoma), on Friday, sought an end to incessant killings in communities in Benue.
The lawyers made the call in a statement jointly signed by their leader, Godwin Obia, and president, Dr Joshua Musa, in Abuja.
The group called on the federal government and the Benue government to act fast to nip the menace in the bud.
According to them, the brutal and senseless attacks must stop.
The development followed the alleged killing of four persons by suspected armed herdsmen in Akpa-Otobi community, including a former House of Assembly candidate for the Otukpo-Akpa state constituency during the 2019 general election, Igbabe Ochi.
The attack was said to have occurred at about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, following a failed kidnap attempt in the community on Sunday night.
Reacting, the lawyers said it condemned the barbaric attack by gunmen, leading to the death of about four people.
They said the incessant violent attacks by armed herdsmen on innocent persons in various communities in Otukpo, Ohimini, Apa, and Agatu LGAs should be of utmost concern to the state and federal authorities.
According to them, security agencies must rise up to the occasion in the same renewed momentum they have taken the fight to these heartless terrorists in other parts of the country.
“The criminal determination by these terrorists to displace the people from their ancestral homes is wicked, dehumanising, and unacceptable.
“Crops and economic trees worth hundreds of millions of naira are being destroyed by armed terrorists, and the innocent people are watching helplessly as they lack the capacity to confront the violent criminals.
“The constitutional rights of our people to their property in the farmlands under serial attacks are being destroyed unabated, as if the constitution does not apply to Idoma Land any longer. The right to own property is a constitutional right guaranteed by Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“The economic and socio-cultural lives of the people have been diminished to nothing and their right to life is not respected by the armed herdsmen and, sadly, not protected by the state,” they said.
The group said that the laws of all civilised nations protect the lives and property of their citizens and strictly punish criminals who violate them.
“Nigeria, having portrayed itself as a civilised nation, must, as a matter of urgency, stand firmly and enforce the constitution and other penal laws, including security policies to defend Idoma land and its peaceful and law-abiding people.”
The lawyers stated that the losses incurred by residents and farmers in Benue South senatorial district were monumental.
They therefore called on the relevant federal government agencies to undertake an assessment of the losses and adequately compensate the victims to assuage the untold hardship they are suffering.
“We are aware that the military intervention by the United States of America has brought relief to several communities in the Northwest and Northeast regions of Nigeria. We are also aware that the State of Israel has volunteered to intervene in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria to stem the tide of the menace.
“Be it known to all, including the international community, that the scourge of mindless killings by the terrorists started in Agatu, where tens of thousands of innocent citizens have lost their lives without adequate media coverage. These inhuman and dastardly acts of the terrorists in Agatu have always been under-reported,” the group said
The legal practitioners, therefore, called on the United States of America to extend its military intervention to the Benue South Senatorial District to secure their land, protect lives, and safeguard their property.
(NAN)
