This is a bad fable composed out of extreme poor fantasy. Mgbeke Obi the author of this fable, Victor Oladokun and Oluwatoyin Adepoju who helped to circulate it need to go for a crash course in elementary logic. Nigerians are used to reading interviews certified to have been conducted by journalists but which often turn out to be fake since the supposed interviewees had never talked to the interviewers. This Post Massacre Eye Witness Report must have been written at home far away from Benue State and at a very remote distance from Agatu.
Mgbeke Obi itemised his purported report in ten points under the title: What I Saw in Agatu. If Mgbeke Obi had been in Agatu, he would have supported his report with pictures of aftermath of the massacres there. Instead, we are being bothered with incoherent homemade fake report. I will endeavour to waste time on four of the ten things Mgbeke Obi claimed he saw at Agatu. (1) Dead human bodies still on the ground and in homes - decomposed. (2) Cows roaming through empty villages and in one case walking up to a dead human body. (3) Thousands and thousands of cattle grazing on people's farms - well over 10,000 live cattle. Several times we had to stop our cars to let the cattle pass. (5) Fulani herdsmen accompanying the cattle. Some ran when they saw us but some continued as if we didn't exist. In order to understand how fake these four points are, we need to correlate them to what Mgbeke Obi strangely titled : What we didn't see in Agatu this week. It must be noted that Mgbeke Obi associated others with his personal report without naming them in order to make it look credible. What he didn't see were stated in four points of which three are noteworthy. (1) Not a single dead cow. (2) Not a single soldier or policeman in the affected communities. (3) Not a single burnt mosque where everything else was razed.
Mgbeke Obi itemised his purported report in ten points under the title: What I Saw in Agatu. If Mgbeke Obi had been in Agatu, he would have supported his report with pictures of aftermath of the massacres there. Instead, we are being bothered with incoherent homemade fake report. I will endeavour to waste time on four of the ten things Mgbeke Obi claimed he saw at Agatu. (1) Dead human bodies still on the ground and in homes - decomposed. (2) Cows roaming through empty villages and in one case walking up to a dead human body. (3) Thousands and thousands of cattle grazing on people's farms - well over 10,000 live cattle. Several times we had to stop our cars to let the cattle pass. (5) Fulani herdsmen accompanying the cattle. Some ran when they saw us but some continued as if we didn't exist. In order to understand how fake these four points are, we need to correlate them to what Mgbeke Obi strangely titled : What we didn't see in Agatu this week. It must be noted that Mgbeke Obi associated others with his personal report without naming them in order to make it look credible. What he didn't see were stated in four points of which three are noteworthy. (1) Not a single dead cow. (2) Not a single soldier or policeman in the affected communities. (3) Not a single burnt mosque where everything else was razed.
If it was true that Mbeke Obi saw decomposed dead human bodies on the ground and in homes as well as cows roaming through empty villages and in one case walking towards a dead human body, the most intelligent understanding of the described episode ought to be that the roaming cows had had their herders killed. Even when Mgbeke Obi did not see a single dead cow, he saw cows roaming through villages without their herders, which should imply that the dead human bodies he saw certainly included that of Fulani herders. Mgbeke Obi told us that his convoy ran into the Fulani herdsmen and droves of cows, over 10, 000 live cattle. Sometimes they stopped to let them cross not knowing if it was ambush. He wrote, "They (Fulani herdsmen and their droves of cattle) were right outside (the car windows of Mgbeke Obi's convoy) our windows. No one wanted to engage them." In spite of the fact that Mgbeke Obi and his convoy never looked like Fulani, yet Fulani herdsmen never attacked or molested the convoy which testified to the peaceful nature of Fulani herdsmen. Since the picture Mgbeke Obi and his ilk would like to paint of Fulani herdsmen is that of a bloodthirsty savages, he invented this story, "However, our security escort did engage when they saw several armed Fulanis on a bike trying to flee (see Mgbeke Obi's HIGHLIGHTS, item 2)." Apart from the absurdity of several armed Fulanis ON A BIKE trying to flee, how could Mgbeke Obi ascertain that the several armed men on a bike were Fulani? In 'what we did not see' Mgbeke Obi wrote, "Not a single soldier or policeman in the affected communities." The interesting question in this wise is, from where did Mgbeke Obi and his convoy get their security escort that engaged several armed Fulanis on a bike? Under item 5 of 'What I Saw in Agatu' Mgbeke Obi wrote, "Fulani herdsmen accompanying the cattle. Some ran when they saw us but some just continued as if we didn't exist." It is only in a fiction that one could saddle several armed Fulanis on a bike and make Fulani herdsmen run with their cattle as one would do with dogs!! Those who want update us with information should first upgrade their brains to discern true from false information before postage.
S.Kadiri
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2016 11:05:23 +0000
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Agatu Massacre by Fulani Herdsmen Terrorists : Post Massacre Eye Witness Report
From: oluwasrividya@gmail.com
To: edo-nationality@yahoogroups.com; edo_global@yahoogroups.com; Esan_Community@yahoogroups.com; afenmai@yahoogroups.com; Raayiriga@yahoogroups.com; yanarewa@yahoogroups.com; Mwananchi@yahoogroups.com; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Agatu Massacre by Fulani Herdsmen Terrorists
Post Massacre Eye Witness Report
Mgbeke Obi
10 March at 00:41 ·
FULANI MASSACRE (Final Report)
Victor Oladokun
I'm posting the final report from a dear friend who has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Benue State, following the recent Fulani massacre. This is not the first time atrocities will be committed by Fulani militants, but hopefully, the last.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Our convoy doubled to 10 cars plus soldiers, police and bikers. We had two-three minute stops. At one, I ventured ahead of the security perimeter and discovered our first decomposing body. A first even for me. I usually count tombstones.
2. Our convoy ran into the Fulani herdsmen and droves of cattle on multiple occasions. Sometimes we stopped to let them cross not knowing if it was an ambush. They were right outside our windows. No one wanted to engage because the outcome was unpredictable. I have never seen free range killers walking free before.
However our security escort did engage when they saw several armed Fulanis on a bike trying to flee. They abandoned one man who was injured and he was taken into our custody. Our captured killer didn't survive the rough terrain drive.
3. In the only village where we saw human survivors, we were told these people had just been attacked and were alerted we were coming so they bolted and ran into us.
(Fulani militants claim local residents killed 10,000 of their cattle).
It is simply inconceivable and logistically improbable to kill 10,000 cows without a major military operation utilizing rocked propelled grenades, attack helicopters etc. such a mass slaughter would take weeks and the skeletal remains of the cows would completely dot the landscape of Agatu and the stench would permeate the air.
What I saw in Agatu:
1. Dead human bodies still on the ground and in homes - decomposed.
2. Cows roaming through empty villages and in one case walking up to a dead human body. We left before the sacrilege of them desecrating the poor dead boy.
3. Thousands and thousands of cattle grazing on people's farms - well over 10,000 live cattle. Several times we had to stop our cars to let the cattle pass. I have never seen that many cattle in my entire life.
4. Burnt crops farmers had harvested and set aside for replanting. They were in charred heaps on the farms.
5. Fulani herdsmen accompanying the cattle. Some ran when they saw us but some just continued as if we didn't exist.
6. Grains of farmers, peppers etc scattered on the ground in the towns and also along the way between the villages. The likely belonged to people on their way back from farms or markets or people fleeing with some food who were ambushed as they ran.
7. Motor bikes and bicycles destroyed in the villages and on the road side in between. Again it appears people who were fleeing on bikes were ambushed as well.
8. Rows and rows of houses destroyed in at least 8 villages visited. It was complete and utter destruction.
9. Freshly lit fires still burning in a couple of villages indicating the arsonist had just left. We saw jerrycans along the way indicating fuel may have been utilized to fuel the fires.
10. Only in one out of 8 towns did we see any live humans - about 4 men.
What we didn't see in Agatu this week:
1. Not a single dead cow
2. Not a single soldier or policeman in the affected communities.
3. Not a single burnt mosque where everything else was razed.
4. Not a single living Agatu person in 7 out of 8 villages.
Conclusion: even if it were true that cattle were killed by the Agatu (there was no supporting evidence of this) the farms, homes and people of Agatu were massacred as well-evidenced by our team.
1.If the claimed casualties of the Fulani are cows and the claimed casualties of the Agatu are humans, then this could not be rightly called an Ethnic conflict.
Cows are not people or an ethnic group.
2. If the loss claimed by the Fulani is livestock i.e. animals, this would be a criminal case of theft or destruction of property and not the basis for a massacre.
3. The Fulani are not indigenes of Benue and are not an ethnic group in Benue state. Their incursion from outside into Benue is more an invasion than an ethnic clash.
Finally, the statement attributed to the Fulani is an admission of guilt and a defense of provocation. The authorities should act accordingly and take the confessed perpetrators into custody for immediate prosecution.
Finally, I recall the State governor telling us the Fulani attacks are worse than Boko Haram - "BH occupies a town, kills some people and recruits some. The Fulanis destroy everything."
This seems not to be an exaggeration. Last year, the Catholic Church reported 70 churches destroyed. This is happening in my home state - the most Christian State in Northern Nigeria!
Post Massacre Eye Witness Report
Mgbeke Obi
10 March at 00:41 ·
FULANI MASSACRE (Final Report)
Victor Oladokun
I'm posting the final report from a dear friend who has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Benue State, following the recent Fulani massacre. This is not the first time atrocities will be committed by Fulani militants, but hopefully, the last.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Our convoy doubled to 10 cars plus soldiers, police and bikers. We had two-three minute stops. At one, I ventured ahead of the security perimeter and discovered our first decomposing body. A first even for me. I usually count tombstones.
2. Our convoy ran into the Fulani herdsmen and droves of cattle on multiple occasions. Sometimes we stopped to let them cross not knowing if it was an ambush. They were right outside our windows. No one wanted to engage because the outcome was unpredictable. I have never seen free range killers walking free before.
However our security escort did engage when they saw several armed Fulanis on a bike trying to flee. They abandoned one man who was injured and he was taken into our custody. Our captured killer didn't survive the rough terrain drive.
3. In the only village where we saw human survivors, we were told these people had just been attacked and were alerted we were coming so they bolted and ran into us.
(Fulani militants claim local residents killed 10,000 of their cattle).
It is simply inconceivable and logistically improbable to kill 10,000 cows without a major military operation utilizing rocked propelled grenades, attack helicopters etc. such a mass slaughter would take weeks and the skeletal remains of the cows would completely dot the landscape of Agatu and the stench would permeate the air.
What I saw in Agatu:
1. Dead human bodies still on the ground and in homes - decomposed.
2. Cows roaming through empty villages and in one case walking up to a dead human body. We left before the sacrilege of them desecrating the poor dead boy.
3. Thousands and thousands of cattle grazing on people's farms - well over 10,000 live cattle. Several times we had to stop our cars to let the cattle pass. I have never seen that many cattle in my entire life.
4. Burnt crops farmers had harvested and set aside for replanting. They were in charred heaps on the farms.
5. Fulani herdsmen accompanying the cattle. Some ran when they saw us but some just continued as if we didn't exist.
6. Grains of farmers, peppers etc scattered on the ground in the towns and also along the way between the villages. The likely belonged to people on their way back from farms or markets or people fleeing with some food who were ambushed as they ran.
7. Motor bikes and bicycles destroyed in the villages and on the road side in between. Again it appears people who were fleeing on bikes were ambushed as well.
8. Rows and rows of houses destroyed in at least 8 villages visited. It was complete and utter destruction.
9. Freshly lit fires still burning in a couple of villages indicating the arsonist had just left. We saw jerrycans along the way indicating fuel may have been utilized to fuel the fires.
10. Only in one out of 8 towns did we see any live humans - about 4 men.
What we didn't see in Agatu this week:
1. Not a single dead cow
2. Not a single soldier or policeman in the affected communities.
3. Not a single burnt mosque where everything else was razed.
4. Not a single living Agatu person in 7 out of 8 villages.
Conclusion: even if it were true that cattle were killed by the Agatu (there was no supporting evidence of this) the farms, homes and people of Agatu were massacred as well-evidenced by our team.
1.If the claimed casualties of the Fulani are cows and the claimed casualties of the Agatu are humans, then this could not be rightly called an Ethnic conflict.
Cows are not people or an ethnic group.
2. If the loss claimed by the Fulani is livestock i.e. animals, this would be a criminal case of theft or destruction of property and not the basis for a massacre.
3. The Fulani are not indigenes of Benue and are not an ethnic group in Benue state. Their incursion from outside into Benue is more an invasion than an ethnic clash.
Finally, the statement attributed to the Fulani is an admission of guilt and a defense of provocation. The authorities should act accordingly and take the confessed perpetrators into custody for immediate prosecution.
Finally, I recall the State governor telling us the Fulani attacks are worse than Boko Haram - "BH occupies a town, kills some people and recruits some. The Fulanis destroy everything."
This seems not to be an exaggeration. Last year, the Catholic Church reported 70 churches destroyed. This is happening in my home state - the most Christian State in Northern Nigeria!
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