“Thereafter, I spoke with the Commissioner of Police to again protest the humiliation meted to our people who heeded an advice by the DPO at Ekiadolor to go to the Police Command in Benin City to formally lodge a complaint against the invasion of the community by Fulani herders firing AK 47 rifles resulting in some fatalities.
“I am simply unable to understand why people should now be afraid on their ancestral land because cows must graze.
“Guess what, those who went to the Police Command spent the whole day at the CID more or less detained and were asked to sign an undertaking to be of good behavior. Can you beat that? The victim/complainant becoming the accused/defendant at the Police Command.
“I protested this to the Commissioner of Police. He sounded nice and officious. I perfectly understand he has a job to do. He said they had information that four Fulani herders were killed.
“But the community people said they knew nothing about it and that assuming it took place, such did not happen on their soil.
“Much as the murder of a Fulani man and anyone for that matter is very very condemnable, I told the Police Commissioner it is not a justifiable reason for Fulani gunmen to resort to self-help and levy terror on a whole community during which an Ebira man was killed and many sustained gunshot wounds apart from property destroyed.
“Through phone calls, I have been speaking with the community leaders and the youth leaders to remain law-abiding regardless. They assured me that, as good Christians and in the spirit of Lent, they have no reason to take laws into their hands.
“Just when one thought normalcy had been restored came the report on Tuesday that some policemen raided the community and took twelve youths away.
“I again called the CP Wednesday. Again, he sounded nice and told me he was unaware and needed to find out and get back to me. This was Wednesday evening.
“Then, this morning (Thursday), I received another report that additional ten men were taken hostage by policemen Wednesday night. It is now more like the sort of raid you read about in Nazi Germany.
“Some elders who left the community this morning for the Police headquarters were told by sympathetic senior officers in clear terms that the matters were beyond them. From experience, that is a euphemism for “orders from above”.
“I called the CP twice or thrice during the day, he did not pick my calls. I find this funny. I know people have a job to do. But this is just to remind them that public office is temporary. It is not forever.
“Thank God liability is not time-bound at the International Criminal Court. We shall activate our own powers at the appropriate time.”
