BENUE KILLINGS: NO ADO ABOUT SO MUCH!

The e-generation has made the world so close yet so far. I have a couple of family and friends that i chat with so regularly but i don't remember when last we saw.
So it was via chat my good friend told me she dreamt. First week in February she said she had a dream that there was a war situation in Benue State. As it is in our custom, i silently rebuked this dream. It was one of those chats that would not mean any more than it was. A chat. Keeping up with friends. But today March 27th2014, no less than 1000 people have been reported dead in the media. I am careful to say 'reported in the media' because there are many more unreported cases in this 'war situation'.  I will be as blunt as can be as i give some of the theories i have heard.


Some call it a retaliation to cattle rustling. To them i will say cattle rustling has being with the Tiv/ Fulani Kith and kin right from creation. Infact, whenever i meet a Fulani man and introduce myself as a Benue indigene, the next thing i hear is MUNCHI. Mun chi is a Hausa connotation for 'WE HAVE EATEN IT'. When the Fulani man would leave their cows with the Tiv man, that was the reply they got. Yes the Tiv man would eat the Fulani man's cow and the Fulani man would in turn be happy to eat the Tiv man's yams. The Fulani man has
Some refer to the situation as a distraction from accountability, others a creation of a select people, some people even believe it is a disguise. Some people believe it is the much dreaded boko haram.  Other people have said the present war situation is a case of 'settlers imperialism' as already witnessed in other parts of the country. Even the Security forces have areas they will not venture, as we saw in the case of governor Suswam's convoy attack.
Now headline stories of the media have depicted the happenings in the Benue region day in day out. As i write, i understand Gbajimba is back on fire. There were also rumors of the modern market area being under siege. Yesterday they attacked Sengev in Gwer west,burnt down two villages ,Mbalom in Gwer east, Aliede was also unstabl. There were also confirmed  Police reports by the police about the Abuja-Lafia way terrorism meted out on the Tiv commuters. Women, youth and Children are targeted for a perceived generational wipe away.

These are strategies that were exploited in several other states before now. And so one wonders, why is there no ado about so much? 

When ASA the female enigmatic soul searcher sang FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, i doubt if she saw this coming. But what she said plays out so much. Indeed, there is fire on the mountain and nobody seems to be on the run, i wake up in the morning, tell you what i see on my TV screen, i see the blood of an innocent child, and everybody's watching...  
The  indigenous residents of Benue are now living and waking with amidst fear. It is indeed a war situation. My friend's dream is no longer just a dream. It has come to pass. There is blood shed. There is daily killing. Farms are destroyed, hunger is on the rise and the next harvest season will only but a night mare. Crime rate will be on the increase.
There is no ado about this much happening in the food Basket of the Nation. The Nation will only experience this hunger when the basket is checked.
 There is too much for no ado. The government of the day needs to rise up. Rise up, CSO's, Rise up security armed forces and rise up, oh Nigeria.


TH