Yelwata Massacre: Danjuma warned us, but we didn’t listen
Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (rtd), a former Chief of Army Staff and former Minister of Defence, is a man of few words.
The retired General is not a man associated with frivolities.
He has seen it all and represents the crop of very few eminent Nigerians who speak truth to power.
At the peak of sustained massacre of peasant farmers in his state, Taraba, under the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, Danjuma warned Nigerians, especially those at the receiving end of the campaign of genocide in parts of the country, that unless the people defended themselves, they would all be killed one by one.
The occasion was the maiden convocation ceremony of the Taraba State University, Jalingo, held in March 2018.
Danjuma warned that the insecurity in the state, which had persisted, meant much more than the ordinary eyes could see and that the people must defend themselves.
His words “There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state and, of course, some rural states in Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up.
“Our Armed Forces are not neutral. They collude with the bandits to kill people, kill Nigerians. The Armed Forces guide their movements; they cover them. If you are depending on the Armed Forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one.
“This ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba State and other rural states of Nigeria otherwise Somalia will be a child’s play.
“I ask every one of you to be alert and defend your country, defend your territory and defend your state. Defend yourselves because you have no other place to go. God bless our country.”
How come no arrests? Re-echoing Tinubu’s question
Some Nigerians may disagree with Danjuma but the tales of woe from survivors of attacks in many different parts of the country leave many questions unanswered.
I hate to think that the Nigerian military, police, and intelligence agencies are working hand-in-glove with those killings Nigerians.
Hard as it is to believe, the question remains. As President Bola Tinubu asked in Makurdi last week, when he visited the state after the Yelwata massacre – how come no arrests?
Where is Nigeria’s intelligence community? Military and police authorities give Nigerians lame excuses as to why they are unable to contain the marauders.
All we hear are assurances that situations have been brought under control – after attacks. How?Situation under control when not a single arrest is made?
Why are our military, police, the Department of State Service (DSS), and the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) so helpless?
That groups of armed people can move from village to village, attacking, killing, maiming and cannot be tracked down?
Are the attackers’ spirits?
We are told that our borders are porous, that these killers can move across many different states, unchallenged, leaves much to be desired.
Where are the drones?With drone technology, there is no hiding place for any criminal(s) if the government means to put a stop to their activities.
With the advancement in geospatial technology, we cannot honestly say that Nigeria does not possess the human and material resources to handle criminals who hide in the forests, or anywhere for that matter, and regularly launch attacks on Nigerian villages.
One doesn’t have to be an expert in state security to know that security agents are in all local governments of the federation.
How come they don’t provide actionable intels. Or is the question a matter of saboteurs?
Arrest those who hosted the killers
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, in a post-mortem review of the Yewata massacre, revealed, on Thursday, that some individuals within Benue provided accommodation, food, and even women to armed criminals who carried out the attack on Yelwata community that left dozens dead.
Speaking at an expanded media interaction at Defence Headquarters in Abuja, the CDS said local informants also helped the attackers identify the location of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Yelwata, resulting in the high casualty figure recorded in the massacre.
Musa disclosed that troops had received intelligence about potential attacks in various communities across the state and were mobilized accordingly. However, upon arrival at the initially mentioned locations, it turned out the information was misleading, as the real attack had already been executed in Yelwata using a hit-and-run approach.
He said, “These criminals were harboured by people in the community. They were given food. They were even given women. They were guided on where the IDP camp was located. Yet, security forces received no information.”
If the authorities are now aware that some people accommodated the attackers, the natural thing is to arrest those people.
We are waiting to hear that they have been arrested indeed.
Where Tinubu missed the point
At the Makurdi meeting, President Tinubu told Governor Hyacinth Alia to work closely with past governors and traditional rulers in the state to foster unity.
He said, “We are members of the same house, just sleeping in different rooms.
“We need to turn this tragedy into an opportunity to rebuild trust and foster development. Human life is more valuable than anything else.” The president’s position shows that he was not properly briefed on the killings.
The Tor TiV, HRH James Ayatse, puts it succinctly, “This is not a clash,” he said. “It is a calculated, full-scale genocidal invasion that has gone on for decades and is getting worse every year.
Mischaracterising the problem leads to misguided solutions.”
Ayatse urged Tinubu to recognise the situation for what it is and to address it accordingly.
In 2018, after a similar massacre, where over 70 corpses were buried in one day, then President Muhammadu Buhari told the people of Benue to learn to live with their neighbours.
How do the people live with or accommodate neighbours that rise up at night and massacre them.
Or invite some other people from elsewhere to kill them and in the morning feign innocence?At a point, Buhari ordered the then Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to immediately relocate to Benue, following renewed killings of residents by suspected herdsmen.
The-Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police, issued a statement that the IG had complied with the order and moved into Benue with additional five units of Police Mobile Force (PMF), making a total of ten units of PMF deployed in the state.
However, on March 13, Buhari reportedly expressed surprise that the Police IG didn’t stay in Benue as he ordered.
Buhari said he was not aware that Idris ignored his instruction to relocate to Benue.
He stated this at a meeting with stakeholders in Makurdi, during his visit to the state.
But during the meeting with stakeholders, Buhari was told that Idris did not spend up to 24 hours in the state.
Buhari, who expressed shock, explained that he did the needful by ordering the IG to relocate to the state.
“But I did not know that the IG did not stay in the state. I am getting to know this at this meeting. I am quite surprised,” he said.
He then went on to appeal for restraint, “Let me appeal to our people to apply more restraints. “The relationship between farmers and herders will continue; it behooves us to keep encouraging ourselves to live together peacefully.”
The-Gov. of Benue, Samuel Ortom, also appealed to the president to order the immediate arrest and prosecution of leaders of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore who he accused of the killings.
But the representative of the Miyetti Allah, Benue chapter, Shettima Mohammed, denied responsibility for the Benue attacks.
The post Yelwata Massacre: Danjuma warned us, but we didn’t listen appeared first on Vanguard News.
Jun 22, 2025
VillaHandle
