I don’t understand the type of pleasure some derive by putting out wrong information to the public domain. Is it to gain prominence or popularity or better still to destroy another by brewing hatred in the minds of others?
The whole narrative surrounding the herdsmen attack in Kogi East were totally fictitious, misleading, malicious and wicked. From the location to the number of dead.
So was how bewildered I was when we got to Ogane-Inigwu to meet a peaceful community. Going by the wrong narratives, I expected to see a charred Ogane-Inugwu, that is burning with dead bodies every where, but was shocked when i saw its people going about their daily businesses unhindered. Yes some few fled out of fear which is normal, It was a bigger shock to discover that the attacked community is still about 3 hours away from Ogame-Inigwu with many other communities located before the troubled spot.
So how did people arrive at the narrative that Ogane-Igwu was boiling? The funny of all is that the gullible public believed instantaneously all charade it was sold. The funniest is, the people who concoct and circulate fake news are in the cozy of their rooms, blowing with AC, eating what they want when they want to eat, yet spewing narratives that may ignite full scale crisis. Crisis was yet to happen , upon inquiry, an old man said they haven’t eaten for four days, because people fled! who did this to them must be very callous and wicked.
So saddening is the fact that, even when you present fact and truth to some persons, hatred have distorted their sense of judgment, evidential fact offends their sensibility, they still stick to jaundiced and distorted information and their pessimistic assertions.
When this same community was attacked some two years by Fulanis, the then administration didnt do anything, neither did it send representatives to the communities and it didn’t get a quarter of the bashing the Bello is getting, why is that so? The reasons are obvious. Was Yahaya Bello the governor in 2015? The communities confirmed that no serving governor of Kogi has ever visited in times of peace and crisis but Yahaya Bello did, i think we should call a spade a spade, we should appreciate his efforts at least.
Obviously these are no new Fulanis, as some persons are standing on the premise that Bello invited Fulanis. These are Fulanis domiciled in the Igala land for many years. they know the terrain very much and well. It would take months of careful study to understand this torturous domain and carry out an attack. Well of cause except they are aided by Igalas who owns the land and knows it quite well.
We must be careful with the information we put out there. Many large scale crisis that led to full scale killings were started by the passing of wrong information to the public. Would we be able to live with the emotional repercussions of our actions when the deed is done?
As a member of the Confluence Youth For Peace and Development Initiative (CYPDI) , some time ago, we reached out to Fulanis and their host community in the Zango axis of Lokoja, we interfaced with them , we asked how come they have been able to live in peace over the years and the response were awesome. Tolerance, patience and mutual respect. The Fulanis stated categorically that, they report the bad eggs in their midst and carry out disciplinary action against erring Fulanis.
However, they stated possible reasons why Fulanis can attack their host communities. An average Fulani man attaches great emotion to his cows. Hence when his cows are killed or stolen and no justice is seen to be meted on the perpetrators, they take the laws into their hands, if not immediate, in the distant future.
It is therefore imperative that all community in Kogi state check the excesses of their youth, so as not to bring unwarranted trouble upon the innocent lot. It is expedient all community head meet and discuss regularly with the Fulanis in their midst, know them and interact with them so that when issues arises, they are settled amicably.
Furthermore in our clime, we trivialize rumors , it is very important that people and communities do not to play with information or rumor of intending attacks, no matter how insignificant it may look, it may just be life saving for all. Communities should reach out to security agencies more often.
Finally, we should learn to tolerate ourselves . The attack on Ojuo Omaigbe maybe politically motivated in the sense that, an eye witness said with confidence that there are Igala among the assistants, difficult to swallow as it may seen, it is indeed very disturbing if eventually the Judicial panel of inquiry finds it to be so, until then i keep my fingers crossed. Let us pray for the deceased and let us be our brothers keepers.
May we walk and not stumble
Williams Charles Oluwatoyin
Writes from Lokoja
wlmcharles@yahoo.co.uk
