Bodejo’s Fulani Vigilante: Questions For Gov. Sule, Bodejo!
By: Yahaya Kana Ismaila
When the now infamous Barrister Hudu Ari, erstwhile INEC Resident electoral commissioner for Adamawa state decided to play Maurice Iwu incarnate by declaring Aishatu Binani, candidate of the APC in the 2023 Adamawa governorship election winner of the election even while votes were still being sorted for counting, a visibly stupefied Ahmadu Fintiri could be seen waving his hands and asking “why”? Why, why! The population of Adamawa state is predominantly Fulani.
On Tuesday, 17th January, the Nasarawa State capital, Lafia was thrown into wild pomp and pageantry as the self-styled leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo launched what he termed a Fulani Vigilante group. And like Fintiri, we, the people of Nasarawa state have come to ask why and even how. Although, by Bodejo’s revelation in a video that has now gone viral, the Vigilante Group is currently a 2000-man strong army created to provide security for the much terrorised people of Nigeria in collaboration with other security agencies, yet we can’t help but ask some very pertinent questions…
Notwithstanding the fact that the interagency collaboration that Bodejo alluded to shone brightly at the launch with heavy presence of men of the police and army who were led by the commandant of 177 Guards Battalion, Keffi and the state commissioner of police respectively, we still have our “why and how” questions begging for answers. This is also regardless of the fact that combating crimes is a noble idea, yet one can’t help but be very curious about certain pronouncements made by Bodejo, and the audacity of the man’s public march, especially in the face of increasing public outcry condemning the conceptualisation of and launch of this tribal vigilante group, curiously too, in a Nasarawa that’s not a Fulani state.
Without restraints and I suspect any care as to the feelings of the Nasarawa people, Bodejo told the BBC in an interview that he plans to invite notorious bandit overlord, Bello Turji to be part of his vigilante. Naturally, this poses the question, who and who in the bandit watch list is already part his 2000 soldiers? I know he claims every member of his army has been vetted all the way home but by whom? The Police, Army, DSS? We want to know. Bodejo’s suggestion that Bello Turji could wind up perhaps as some sort of a commander in his tribal army forces one to ask, could some of the 2000 men currently in the Vigilante repentant bandits or simply men who exchanged the harrows of bandit hideouts for the safety of the uniforms of a quasi-security outfit?
Bodejo must also tell Nigerians how his security outfit is financed. Did he come into some inheritance that he wishes to dedicate to public service? Maybe men of the Vigilante will work for free and that will be noble. However, we are still left with the question of operational cost, and others. Who will bankroll those? Could Bodejo be planning to tax all farmers and herders in Nasarawa state and beyond?
Bodejo also confessed that his men will have to wield much more than sticks and clubs in the discharge of their securitization duties, saying they’ll carry “lawful arms and ammunition” that he plans to procure for his soldiers. What could these lawful arms be? And who will pay for them? Could governors of the North whom he plans to secure with his army be putting together a war chest? Although the police commissioner for Nasarawa state and the commandant 177 Guards battalion, Keffi were at his launch, I don’t see them contributing a penny to the cause. Why? Both Egbetokun and CG Musa were at the national assembly last year where they decried low funding for both their outfits, so that is a foreclosed source. Bodejo must make efforts to convince us of his line of funding, and just maybe, this ethnic militia may get in the good books the people of Nigeria.
Nigerians will also be curious to know the scope and extent of security that Bodejo’s army will be handling. Will they be in the forest in form of a forest guard or will they be policing the streets and highways of Nigeria? We want to know who or what mechanisms are in place to check the excesses of these operatives and how he plans to enforce discipline and ensure they don’t go rogue?
Now, to questions for our dear governor of Nasarawa state, A.A Sule, the first of which is: where did Bodejo secure permission to launch his security outfit out of Lafia? It is public knowledge that no gathering of such a mammoth nature can take place except with the express permission of the state government and security agencies, especially in view of the less than friendly public perception of the Fulani by majority of the people of Nasarawa state. This question becomes nagging if one takes seriously, eye witness accounts which put the governor either at the scene of the launch or at the show-of-force march after.
Should claims that the governor participated in the event turn out to be true, then the people of Nasarawa state will like to know on what grounds or what roles our governor played in the launch of a Fulani Vigilante group or plans to play in its sustenance. It is really worrisome that our governor will host over 2000 men in uniforms inside Lafia and see nothing wrong with it, but decide to clampdown heavily on women, most of them old and leave them in detention for participating in a protest, albeit ill-advised following the supreme court judgement that affirmed our governor’s election.
A very disturbing sight from Bodejo’s security launch is his vigilante’s march, which passed right in front of the Government House in what can only be likened to a show of force, to visit the commissioner of Police who could be seen handling a microphone and making a speech, yet no one, not the governor or security formations have come out to address the agitation of Nigerians since tempers began to flair following the launch.
Another question that governor A.A Sule must answer is why Bodejo settled for Lafia for the launch of his vigilante? It is public knowledge that Nasarawa state is not a Fulani state. Going by public records, the population of Fulani people in Nasarawa state is less than 2% and of this percentage, over 80% of them are nomads simply grazing through pastures green.
So we ask, why Nasarawa? could it be because our state could serve the purpose of a Forward Operation Base (FOB). The possibility of this eventuality leaves a chill on our collective spines. For any militia with a sinister plan, Nasarawa could be a perfect location from where a rogue militia wearing the cloak of securitization could launch attacks on locations not friendly to their ways? In this respect, one can’t help but fear for Benue state which has been blacklisted by rogue herders simply for enacting and implementing a law preventing open grazing within its ground. Others in this possible sight of aggression could locations in Plateau and Kaduna state which could be easily targeted from Nasarawa state should this Vigilante go rogue.
Governor Sule must tell us why such an outlet will be given approval to operate out of Nasarawa state knowing the delicate relationship that exists between Benue state, locations in Kaduna and Plateau and Bodejo’s nation. There are times when silence is golden and other times when it’s worthless. This is exactly the time that silence is worthless. From his statement to BBC Hausa, Bodejo revealed that the outfit is yet to be recognised by the federal government. This leaves us with only one conclusion, that the approval for his outfit must have come from the state governor, A.A Sule, an action he’s empowered to take. What Governor Sule must tell us therefore, is why he approved the establishment of the quasi-security outfit? What does he think the people of Nasarawa state can benefit from a Vigilante made up wholly of Fulani herders? Failure to answer these questions convincingly will leave us with no other choice than to conclude that our governor’s silence is admission that he’s also either not in possession of these answers or that he has been wrongly advised.
We are very worried that although the Fulani people can lay claims to the ownership of several states in Nigeria, Bodejo overlooked his Fulani states that are facing even more insecurity than Nasarawa state and indeed the entire North, to launch a Fulani Vigilante in our state! Could this be a statement of intent, a deliberate action that confirms rumours that Bodejo wants to reprise the role of Dan Fodio as conqueror of lands and people?
The commandant 177 Guard Battalion, Keffi, Lt. Col. Inuwa Bala and the Nasarawa state commissioner of police, Umar Shehu Nadada also have lots of questions to answer and I’m very sure they know it now. But while we await answers to the many posers we have registered, the most sensible thing to do will be to stand down this vigilante until the people of Nasarawa and I suspect Benue, Plateau and, especially Southern Kaduna can be convinced that the Vigilante means well for our people!
Yahaya Kana Ismaila can be reached via opionion9ja@gmail.com
