” Other tribes demand holistic investigation
Against the recent Agojeju Odo pogrom by suspected Fulani bandits and lingering violent crises in Bagana and its environs, security operatives may have arrested two chiefs and three others from Bagana communities.
This is just as Gov. Ahmed Ododo confirmed the arrest of suspects in connection with the killings at Agojeju-Odo and Bagana communities in Omala Local Government Area of the state.
The chiefs arrested include Onu Omagede ( Otutubatu) Alhaji Salifu Anyebe, and his son, Alidu Anyebe and a regent of Onuh Patanyi ( ihiankpe.) Mr Ajene and Bosco Atayi
Their arrest according to security sources is connected to their deep knowledge of the crises that had rocked and rocking Bagana and its environs which later escalated to Agojeju Odo and other villages within the corridor,
According to security sources , the chiefs were picked in order to provide insights and help the authorities in their investigations.
Recall that the Fulaniherders and Agatu Militia crises started in Agatu LGAs of Benue state in 2012 and escalated to Bagana, in Omala LGA, kogi state, which resulted into unmitigated fatalities.
According to the locals, the crises later snowballed into ethnic, clannish, chieftaincy and economic contestation with maximum balance of power among the warring parties.
Recall also that , apart from hundreds of residents who were killed, displaced , houses burnt down and other valuables in Bagana, Alhaji Abdullahi Audi , Sarkin Hausawa Bagana and Onuh Patanyi( ihiankpe) chief Solomon were brutally murdered by yet to be apprehended gunmen ten years after.
However, other ethnic nationalities in the embattled Bagana has cautioned the authority not to limit its probe to the People of Otutubatu and inhankpe , as the crises was first targeted at the Hausas, Nupes and kakandas , derogatory considered non indigenes.
According to a native who don’t want his name in print said , only holistic approach taking cognisance of all tribes in Bagana rather than selecting Omagede and patanyi belligerents for resolution would permanently solve the two decades long internecine crises.
