Hausa/Fulani are turning delta state into a kidnapping zoon —Okowa

By Eric Patrick


GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State,
yesterday, declared that most of the kidnappings in 
the state were carried out by Hausa/Fulani inviduals in connivance with some locals.

But the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim,
 who spoke to ERICGOSSIP on the governor’s claim, said he would not want to trade words with the governor on the 
issue, but that facts at his disposal pointed to the contrary.

However, speaking through his Special Adviser on Rural
Development and Peace-building, Chief Edwin Uzor, at 
a town hall meeting in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government 
Area, the governor said his administration had done a lot to ensure clashes between herdsmen and Deltans were reduced to the barest minimum.

The town hall meeting was put together by a non-
governmental organization, LITE-Africa, to flag off the 
National Initiative for Sustainable Peace Building Architecture, NISPA, action in Delta State, funded by the European Union, EU, and Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

The initiative is a pilot scheme in Delta, Enugu and Benue
states to bring together ex-militants, herdsmen, farmers,
opinion leaders, security agencies, critical actors and
stakeholders to dialogue and develop a state-level peace 
plan that will shape a national level policy dialogue on peace and security.

The governor’s words: “There would have been much
 more killings but for our consultations. Most of the kidnappings in the state are perpetrated by the Hausa/Fulani in connivance with some of our people.”

But the Police Commissioner told ERICGOSSIP: “Well, he
(governor) may have his own statistics with due respect, 
but you see my own take in this matter is that crime has no
nationality. It does not have boundaries or tribe, religion or
whatever you are talking about.

“Yes, a lot of these herdsmen and people of Hausa
 extraction have been found to be involved in heinous crimes.

I have records to show that almost everybody that 
you know is involved in this whole thing. Whether it is an indigene or a non- indigene, they are all involved in this thing.

“I have close to about 112 kidnappers in my custody as at
today and the summary of the statistics shows otherwise.

For Delta State, we have 80; Anambra 9, Adamawa 8, 
Taraba 3, Niger 3, Imo 2, Edo 1, Bayelsa 1, Rivers 1, Akwa Ibom 1, Enugu 1, Sokoto 2, Plateau 1 and Kaduna 1. So it
 does not have boundaries, it depends on what he is furnished with.

“So I would not want to contradict him as he obviously 
has his reasons for saying that. But the statistics I have is what I am talking about,” he said.

According to  ERICGOSSIP, The governor, who disclosed that the town hall meeting came at a time government was doing everything to ensure peace among all the groups in the state, said his administration was proactive, dispassionate and diligent in preventing looming crisis and in resolving existing crisis in all parts of the state, adding that ‘’in doing this, we partner with various communities and organization interested in peace and economic development.”

He said the initiative was in consonance with world best
practices, but expressed dismay that in spite of several
successes recorded on peace buildings, extremism was
 still prevalent.

Okowa tasked the federal government on the menace 
of the Fulani herdsmen, advising it to develop a policy framework to checkmate the ugly trend with a view to entrenching lasting peace and stability in the country.

In his welcome speech, Executive Director, LITE-Africa and
former Commissioner in the state, Hon. Joel Bisina, said the
EU, ECOWAS peace and security programme was aimed at
supporting local and cross-border community dialogue and
peace building efforts as well as training that links local
initiatives to ECOWAS peace and security agenda.

He talked about the resurgence of militancy and the 
resultant destruction of pipelines and inter-communal clashes between communities, which need to be addressed immediately before they spiral out of control.