- Insists so-called farmer-herder clashes are nonsense
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Human Rights Activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has challenged the Federal Government to boldly admit its security failings and call genocide by name rather than seeking to be politically correct
Accordingly, he condemned the official handling of ongoing violence in parts of the country, insisting that the government should abandon its finesse of so-called “farmer-herder clashes” to acknowledge the obvious threat of ‘Christian genocide’
Farotimi, who spoke on Channels Television’s interview programme, Hard Copy, about recent international attention drawn to the killings, including comments attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump, said the government’s persistent attempt to downplay the scale and nature of the atrocities is condemnable.
He said, “You are calling genocide farmers-herders clash — what nonsense. How can a farmer who owns nothing be clashing with somebody carrying a Kalashnikov and M-16 rifles? And they are calling it a farmers-herders clash. You even find government persons peddling that idiocy.”
Also accusing the authorities of ignoring the reality of widespread killings while concealing the truth under misleading labels, the Activist said, “Let us deal with the reality that has been painted for us. Some of us have held up mirrors for a while, showing Nigeria the fact of its ugly nudity, but it refused to change.”
He said the government’s denial has now been exposed by external voices calling attention to the situation, adding, “Now someone outside is telling them the truth; the truth is not devalued in the tongue of a liar.”
Speaking against the backdrop of renewed debates over insecurity in Nigeria and global criticism of the government’s perceived failure to protect citizens in affected communities, Farotimi said, “The question is, has Donald Trump lied about the killings? Maybe you don’t like the fact that he has called it a genocide, which is a very political word to use.
“But it doesn’t change the fact that unacceptable casualties are being recorded within a country that proclaims itself to be at peace.”
He lamented that despite having many people being buried in mass graves, official attention has unfortunately stayed fixed on semantics rather than accountability.
“People are being buried in mass graves, and we are still quarrelling over what name Donald Trump called it. I don’t need Trump to tell me what I have seen and heard. I have been using the word genocide to describe what is happening in Nigeria for close to 10 years”, the Activist said
While accusing some elements within the government circles of complicity, Farotimi further alleged that they are aware of the killings but choose silence, adding; “They don’t need Trump to tell them what is happening in their country; they are complicit in what is happening.”
“These are persons exercising the powers of impunity extended by the Nigerian state and the assurance that nothing will happen, so they can do as they please”, the outspoken political activist and author said
