Zamfara Massacre

While Nigerians have built a reputation of being able to see the ray of hope in every situation by making light of it, one issue that has remained a source of increased pain is the mass massacre of citizens by Fulani herdsmen, a menace that some say is fast growing into full-blown terrorism.

From the start of the year, it has been from one attack to the other and many families have been thrown into mourning, with the most recent case being that of Zamfara state in which at least 18 residents were killed.

Nigerians including Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State and Senator Shehu Sani in the wake of the attack took to their Twitter handle to lament the spate of killings in various parts of the country birthing a trend #ZamfaraMassacre.

In reaction to the killings, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan Ali (Rtd), to proceed immediately to the state to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and report back.

He also ordered the security agencies to immediately mobilise and deploy their members to the vulnerable areas of the state, and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to face the full wrath of the law.

The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has, however, continued to throw criticisms at the leadership of the APC even as the 2019 elections draw closer.

In a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP once again accused the Federal Government of failing to live up to the responsibility of securing the lives of the people.

This also comes amidst agitations over the anti-open grazing law and the Federal Government’s proposed plan to establish colonies in different parts of the country to prevent cattle from straying.

Some have blamed the rising massacre on the implementation of the anti-open grazing law but on the other hand, the Federal Government’s proposed policy of establishing grazing locations to curb the menace; (what some have termed as colonies), has received major criticism.

While the anti-open grazing law remains enforced in some states like Ekiti and Benue, the common hope of many Nigerians is that whatever decision the Federal Government eventually comes to, is one that is able to bring a stop to the mass killings.