LEGAL practitioners, under the umbrella of 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, Chief Godwin Obla, SAN, and President, Dr Joshua Musa, SAN, in Abuja.
The group called on the Federal and Benue State Governments to act fast towards nipping the menace in the bud, stressing that the brutal and senseless attacks must stop.
The development followed the reported killing of five 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, Mr 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 in strongest term, the barbaric attack by gunmen leading to the untimely death of about four persons.
They said the incessant violent attacks by armed herdsmen on innocent persons in various communities in Otukpo, Ohimini, Apa and Agatu Local Government Areas of Benue State 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 the laws of all civilised nations protect lives and property of their citizens and strictly punish criminals who violate such laws.
“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 the people living and farming in Benue South Senatorial District (Zone C) were monumental.
They, therefore, called on the relevant agencies of the Federal Government to embark on assessment of the losses and adequately compensate the victims to assuage the untold hardship being suffered by them.
“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 tides 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 their military intervention to Benue South Senatorial District to secure their land, protect lives and their property.
According to them, we have a right to life as guaranteed by Section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“And our lives matter,” they concluded. (NAN)
