Agatu Killings | Benue Peace Ambassador ,Linda Orokpo Ochagla addresses opening session of the Parliamentarians for Peace Conference at NASS.

Address by Amb Linda Orokpo Ochagla at the opening session of the Parliamentarians for Peace Conference at the National Assembly, Abuja on June 6, 2016









AGATU-THE WAY FORWARD

Much has come and gone since February….the Dead buried, the
Cows gone and the marauders disappeared. But the scars
remain, so is the desolation.
While we move away from blame games and concentrate on
rebuilding Agatu and work towards preventing future
reoccurrence, it is necessary to identify emerging challenges
alongside existing ones. To achieve these, the following
measures should be considered carefully.

STRUCTURAL DEFICITS

As we await compensation from the FG and MACBAN in
response to Lawsuits pending in competent Courts instituted by
well meaning Idoma organizations, we must remember that the
elements (rain, sun, wind etc) are not subject to human
caprices.
We must immediately deploy building materials to Agatu to
sustain ongoing reconstruction.. Aid should change from Food
and medications to Cement, Zinc and Paints. As far back as
March when the ADIUVA NOBIS team visited Ugboko IDP camp,
Its interesting to know that 78% of Adult respondents to their
interviews stated Building Materials (Specifically Roofing Sheets) as their most pressing need(nairaland.com/my agatu
experience). Hence we cannot overlook that area.
All idoma communities can be mandated to donate a Bundle of
Roofing sheets (roughly 10k) to the cause. these will easily
overcome the challenge since luckily, Houses are not
numerically superior to humans. materials could be collected
through Church donations etc. Humanitarian Agencies can also
follow up by donating Cement and other materials.


EMPOWERMENT
Idomas don’t beg!!!! ..thats a fact. So we can imagine the
damage to the pride of Agatus when they had to rely on
Handouts to survive after the Onslaught. We are great farmers,
we feed others not the other way round. However, when your
source of livelihood is destroyed, where do you turn to? To
address this issue, we should consider floating soft loans for
farmers to acquire Seedlings, Fertilizers while Outboard Engines
can replace the Traditional Paddles for their boats, better nets
and hooks will increase fish yields and the Market in Agatu
should be rebuilt first,since commerce drive development.
The greater the economic activity in Agatu, the greater the
chances of recovery and progress.



SECURITY
A Process must be initiated to register the Vigilante force in
Agatu with relevant authorities and we as idomas should
prioritize their sustainance. Hilux Vans and Fast Boats will
advance mobility hence response time will be significantly
shortened. Uniforms will give them a sense of legitimacy and
synergy with other state security agents will fill all security
gaps. This is existent in all communities south of the Niger-
Community Policing is Key! Large scale invasions cannot occur
when an armed vigilante can hold invaders at bay till
reinforcements arrive. Our Legislators must rise up to the
occasion of strengthening Vigilante services in the state.

GOVERNMENT


Isolated Communities always bear the brunt of marauders,
Agatu is isolated. Unless we push for the speedy completion of
the Loko-Oweto Highway and fix the Adoka-Apa-Agatu
road, we are only postponing doomsday. Agatu must link up
easily with the outside world to forestall isolated attacks. Eg in
the heat of the last invasion, a call to the people of neigbouring
Apa for help would have elicited a quick response if the roads
were good and inter-community vigilante synergy optimum.
While these alone may not solve the problem, I believe they go
along way to hasten reconstruction and prevent reoccurrence.

Thank you.