The warnings and cautions of possible reprisal and vindictive attack leaves also the community thinking about what had happened or done wrong to suggest that someone might think that?
The Fulani and their cattle are not new to us. Some of our daughters are officially married to them and some of our men are also married to some of their women. Nenwe people are generally liberal , welcoming and respectful. They Fulani s have stayed relatively peaceful in the community until recent years when they started showing some arrogant attitudes.
'Our fulani guests' who had bows and arrows continued to welcome other strange fulanis who have AK 47. These later arrivals gradually outnumbered the initial guests and there animals became more than our bushes can contain. They were arrogant, violent and disrespectful to our people,culture and traditional. Thefts and rape became daily issues and we couldn't find our reference point original fulanis anymore . The villagers receive ultimatums from these guests on when to harvest their crops or they would push thousands of cows in the farms. Farmers started losing lots of money and patience. Mark you that Nenwe is a farming community in Aninri LGA. They (FULANIS) would tell you boldly that the police wouldn't do them anything and they were always right. Dialogue became difficult and delinquency increased since they had some unwritten immunity and the of impunity that follows it . The ground nuts , corns and yams are still in the farms and these people have started grazing on them unabated, then yesterday with the arrival of about 3000(three thousands) new animals the villagers didn’t have another option than to block them on the road and give them all a gentle and peaceful marching orders out of the territory as to salvage their crops.
A BRIEF BACKGROUND OF NENWE PEOPLE:
Nenwe is a peace loving town of four autonomous communities in Aninri LGA of the old Greater Awgu. It is predominately an agricultural (farming) community.
The people are respectful, patient,peaceful, hospitable, though they have in the course of history ‘seen it all’ in problems form hands of misinformed authorities due to their courage,discipline, intolerance to indiscipline,quest for independence and democracy which are ingredients they believe would guarantee their survival as a people .
u They were the community that engaged the Edah and Aro slave mongers (in the late 18th century) who continued to ravage the whole area. This was not without a great toll on their lives and resources. The defeat of the Edahs is still marked with annual festivals that include fight and war skill exhibitions by youths who start from 6 to 20 years to practice fiscal combat and management of conventional weapons.
u The British colonial masters in the last century didn’t understand the Nenwe mentality and fell apart with them . The nenwe people courageously but untactactacally told off the District commissioner (DC) by claiming they would be to be inviting the Germans from Cameroon who they heard were better than the British. The British colonial men couldn't imagine this. The commissioner had to send some police men to punish and collect fines but they were given some lessons of war. Then from Okigwe they sent some (automatic) gunners who came and mowed down half of the town and imposed a local tyrant on them as ruler.
The dictator was brutal and disrespectful and moved with tens of body guards though on a particular market day a coup was planned and his head was chopped off in the market by nenwe youths. The town suffered again more British shootings and fines from the colonial masters.But their tactics and behaviour in Nenwe changed because it seemed they got a lesson on how to respect a people.
u The 1966 coup saw one of their sons in the forefronts. The Bifran militia had their greatest logistic Division in Nenwe therefore most Nenwe people were the first that enrolled both in the boys brigade and the Rangers. The Abagana junction ambush that whipped NA Div 2 had the imprint of two of Nenwe sons behind the Biafran special weapons. The sinking of the NN ship at Uguta in early 1968 had a gallant Nenwerian behind the shore batteries . After the war they had to contend with the undisciplined and disrespectful 126 and 128 battalions of the Nigerian Army who occupied the town till 1974. Most of the young men who were Biafran Commandos abandoned the town in anger and migrated until the occupying soldiers left.
u In the dark days (1978) of squabbles with neighbouring towns , {a period that fortunately has become history due to sacrifices of everyone who worked towards ,peace and progress of all communities}. The NPF and other security agencies who came to quell the combats became very corrupt , disrespectful and consequently lost some operatives and combatants in Nenwe. The town was literally razed and destroyed by the Nigerian police , some Nenwe lives were lost but more importantly the security agents and military started being more respectful while operating on Nenwe soil. Mark you Nenwe sons and daughters occupy the highest positions in the security agencies so it is not a hatred for the profession but hatred for indiscipline, rather a Nenwe association (Nenwe Integrity Foundation) last year single handedly built a multi million Police Station and donated it to the NPF .
- In the mid 2000s many criminal including military people made Nenwe a haven for oil pip breaking, rapes , stealing and all sort of crime. when this got to a point the community couldn’t take it any more and the the police was impotent as usual, the community informed all involved in the criminal act to vacate but they didn’t understand when Nenwe people speak form their hearts and souls..... The community ‘banned' the Nigerian Security agencies from coming to Nenwe for 48 hour so that the could do the job their way since they have been been abandoned to criminals. However in 20 hours 13 disrespectful and undisciplined people were shown the way to discipline and from then onwards people started to leave their doors open again in Nenwe, and women going about in the farms alone till the arrival of these fulani people.
I just narrated these 4 painful periods in Nenwe history to show that we are very respectful and disciplined people but do not shy away from stamping our feet on the ground when our humility and kindness are misunderstood and our patience put to limits.
This said we appeal to the State governor and the FGN to caution the fulani people on their unruly behaviour in Nenwe and to desist from disturbing the peace in Nenwe. We also ask our neighbours to control those in their homes because any fuani who comes to Nenwe must have to run to a town and that town will account for whatever... .As stated already we want to live in peace in our town and we want anyone who wants to live with us to be peaceful . We don't have anything against the Fulani people after all Nenwe people peacefully living in the northern Nigeria are 50 times more than the Fulanis etc living in Nenwe. We only ask our guests to respect us and respect the laws.
They said they are coming to attack us because we do not want our crops destroyed. Well, we have no other place to run to than Nenwe and as we say in Nenwe parlance: "...Ayi lo ya.."
Thanks
From
The Nenwe Youths.
From
The Nenwe Youths.
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