Opinion

Beyond The Headlines: The Truth About The Udege Attacks


The recent press statement regarding the tragic events in Gidan-Ogiri, Akyawa-Baka, and Udege Kasa is a step toward acknowledging the carnage, but it stops short of the full truth. To characterize the killing of 11 people and the burning of more than 50 houses as a "reprisal attack by hoodlums" is a gross simplification. A deeper look at the facts reveals a much more specific and sinister reality.

As a professional in crime management, I must emphasize that terminology dictates the solution. When we use the term "hoodlums," we treat the symptom as a random act of delinquency. We must call a spade a spade: this was not generic criminality; it was a targeted assault by armed herdsmen with a clear criminal motive.

The "reprisal" mentioned by the police did not happen in a vacuum. It was the violent aftermath of a botched kidnapping operation involving an Afo man from Odenin Gida. The two "kinsmen" whose deaths allegedly triggered this attack were not innocent victims of a communal clash—they were neutralized during the process of collecting an illicit ransom.

To call the attackers "hoodlums" masks their identity. These were armed herdsmen acting as a coordinated criminal syndicate. When their kidnapping attempt faced resistance, they turned their weapons on the innocent inhabitants of Gidan-Ogiri, Akyawa-Baka, and Udege Kasa. Razing this communities and slaughtering 11 people is not a "reprisal." It is an act of terrorism intended to intimidate the citizenry for resisting extortion.

By using vague terminology, security agencies overlook the root cause which is the kidnapping menace in this axis. We cannot achieve "lasting peace" if we do not call the crime by its name. 11 citizens did not die because of a communal misunderstanding; they died because a kidnapping ring sought vengeance for their own failed criminal operation.

I urge the Nasarawa State Government and law enforcement agencies to firstly investigate the Odenin Gida abduction as the primary cause of the crisis. Justice is not served by generalities; it is served by the truth.

Abubakar Salisu Oloko, PhD
Lecturer, Department of Crime Management, 
Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa
MNPA, MNFPA

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