by Oge Okonkwo

Friday, September 13, 2013 is a day that will forever remain fresh in the memories of the people of Alago communities of Adabu, Obi, in Obi local government, and Assakio in Lafia local government, Nassarawa state as terror was unleashed on the community by the dreaded Ombatse group.

The Ombatse militia carved fear into the minds of the communities by killing, maiming and burning down houses over the arrest of two of their members who were on a journey to Awe local government  for an undisclosed operation and armed.

Survivors who were lucky to be alive share stories of their escape with Donatus Nadi of Leadership Newspapers:

It was easier for those who had relatives and friends to cross the border into Plateau state. For some, it was two days in the sun and rain as they trudged through the bush to safety with their families, some numbering 10 or more with little children, the aged and the few things they could salvage as the Ombatse advanced.

The worst hit was Assakio which was yet to recover from the attack of June, 2012 visited on it by the same militant group after a disagreement over the payment of land rent as was customary in the area.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND findings revealed that the attack, which started at 7am penultimate Friday, continued, unabated through Sunday with the Ombatse militia taking their time to reduce the town to rubble. Some of the victims of the assault who were able to escape to safety across the borders of neighbouring Plateau state recount that Hilux vans were seen conveying jerry cans of gasoline and other combustibles to the area which were used to set homes and business premises ablaze.

A victim, a headmaster in one of the primary schools in the area who preferred anonymity said, “I ran with the short knickers I was wearing and crossed over to Plateau State for safety with my family. We saw vans delivering gasoline to the militia and in addition, they sawed any trees in front of our houses which were made to fall on our houses to completely destroy them”.

Giving his account, a Police officer who rushed from Niger State on hearing of the fracas to rescue his family said passing through Assakio was like scaling through a ghost town and wondered when the dwellers would be able to rebuild their homes again and restore their lives to normalcy.

“The whole of Assakio town is completely destroyed. In fact, in the previous attacks, the Assakio main Market was spared but this time around the whole market has been completely burnt down,” he said.

Narrating her story in Lafia having fled from the farm with her two kids, a middle aged Tiv woman, whose identity cannot be revealed said she was on her way to the farm with her two children when she heard of the assault on their community and fled through the bush to Lafia for safety with her children.

“I still don’t know the whereabouts of my husband, she said sadly. “I have been trying his phone number but it was not going through”.

Another survivor, whose name was given as Mrs. Oga said she was in the market where she trades in the purchase and storage of grains when she saw people running for their lives. Unknown to her, it was the Ombatse that had laid siege to their town which hosts the biggest agro-allied market in the state. “I ran into the Government Technical College which is the usual place we take refuge in in times of distress like this from the Ombatse. But hearing the advancing gunshots, the mobile police officers stationed in the school drove off in their Hilux vans with a few corps members, leaving mostly women and children at the mercy of the militia” she recounted. Those who could not flee to safety were killed by the militia when they stormed the college.

She also told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND tearfully that the market which provided a source of livelihood for over 70 per cent of the women in the town was completely razed down. The warehouses, which housed grains stored by some other women like her, and were heavily secured, were forced open and set ablaze. Yam tubers, which were stored in the open were hacked into pieces with machetes. “What have we done to these people to deserve such brutality?” the woman who also lost two of her family members queried.

When LEADERSHIP WEEKEND visited Namu, in Quan Pan local government area of Plateau state, refugees numbering about 7000 were taking refuge in the area most of them in public utilities. Some who spoke expressed shock at the attitude of the security agents who allowed the Ombatse to reduce their dwellings to rubbles without intervening for three days.

A victim who craved anonymity, said “I blame government for not sending security men to the area for three days. They used sawing machines, explosives and petrol to burn down our houses and loot them for three days until no house was left standing except those of their Eggon kinsmen”. “We have no homes to return to and we are predominantly farmers and, coming at a time when most of us are harvesting our crops, the level of devastation is unimaginable” he added.

When the incident first occurred in Obi local government, a Tiv woman suffering from partial stroke, whose name was simply given as Mama Doo, was brought from Benue state for treatment and when the crisis broke out, she pleaded with those who gave her treatment to run to safety and not jeopardize their lives for hers since she was already aged. In a miraculous twist, all the rooms in the compound were set ablaze except the little hut she was kept. Unknown to the militia men, she overheard the Ombatse promising to deal with the Alago people for betraying them in the past.

Although military men were said to have deployed to the area, they never engaged the Ombatse militia who continued to carry out their activities with reckless impunity.

In reaction, the first civilian governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu added his voice to the condemnation of federal government’s tacit connivance by allowing the killing of innocent men, women and children to go on “as if we are living in a state of nature.” He said through deliberate inaction, government has allowed the Ombatse militia to continue their reign of terror even when they would have stepped in to nip the continuing violence in the bud.

Senator Adamu, who expressed his resentment at the nonchalant attitude of the federal government, said such attitude is capable of sending wrong signal to other ethnic and terrorist militias and setting a regrettable precedence. He wondered why four months after over 70 security operatives were brutally murdered while carrying out their constitutional duties the federal government is behaving as if nothing has happened. He also noted that the Ombatse saga is purely political and there is nothing cultic about the Ombatse but a group of misguided youths whom government has refused to tame.

In his submission, the Member representing Udegye/Loko constituency and House Committee chairman on information and security, Hon. Mohammed Baba Ibaku, who regretted that Nasarawa has become ‘home of solid crisis’, called for a state of emergency to be declared in the southern senatorial district of the state so as to find a lasting solution to this lingering crisis.

Hon. Francis Orogu, representing Keana constituency blamed laxity on the part of the security operatives as responsible for the magnitude of the destruction, saying there had been rumours of possible uprising since Thursday morning and no machinery was put in place to avert the crisis. He warned that the carnage should not be seen as an Alago problem alone but a threat to the peaceful coexistence and security of the entire state, saying except it is treated collectively, no one shall be safe from this militant group.

The Assembly thereby called on youths to desist being used by politicians in fighting for their personal political goals by inciting ethnic sentiments even as they condoled with all those who lost their loved ones to the crisis. It also chided the state government over its embarking on local government elections while the state is on fire, saying the government must get its priority right by restoring peace and security before talking of local polls.