By Tope Sunday
The fires have died down and victims are still counting their losses, but there is still disquiet, anguish and wailing in Bwari, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Abuja last Tuesday, a day after the killing and burning took place between Gbagyi and Hausa residents.
Although armed-to-the-teeth soldiers were still patrolling the town, the fear of another attack and reprisal were thick in the air. Amidst this fear and uncertainty, some lucky shop owners who were not affected, were evacuating their goods, while the victims were picking up the debris, some of them are wailing and others shedding tears silently as they did.
The gloom, despair and colossal loss of lives and property were all over the town, 24 hours after crisis broke out in the once bubbling town. In the few hours of madness, Bwari’s main market was razed down and several people lost their means of livelihood. As at Wednesday, the 6pm to 6am curfew which was imposed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) was still in place when Blueprint Weekend visited the town in the afternoon.
Genesis of the crisis
The root cause of the Monday fracas, which reportedly led to the death of about 10 persons and wanton loss of goods, remains shrouded in conjectures but at least three reasons were attributed to it.
First, it was alleged that the activities of suspected cult members led to the Christmas day violence. However, another version fingered the age-long chieftaincy tussle between the Etsu Bwari, His Royal Highness, Ibrahim Yaro and the Sarkin Bwari, Alhaji Awwal Musa Ijakoro, leaders of the Gbagyi and Hausa communities respectively.
Suspected cult-related murder
However, a resident of the community who simply identified himself as Babatunde, told Blueprint Weekend that the violence, broke out as a result of disagreement over membership of an unnamed secret cult . Though he did not reveal the identity of the cultists, the news source alleged that a member who wanted to renounce his membership, was stabbed and he reportedly died on Monday morning at an undisclosed hospital. According to Babatunde, the death led to a reprisal, which provoked an orgy of burning and looting, targeting the market and leading to deaths and destruction.
Battle for supremacy
Significantly, there is another version as to what led to the bloody clash which started as a dispute between Gbagyi and Hausa people over the ownership of the town. According to Chukwuebeuka Matthew, this feud which is the remote cause of the crisis, started when the Hausa community appointed a Sarki in Bwari, as against the Estsu who is the indigenous traditional ruler of the Gbagyi peolpe and the paramount ruler of Bwari town.
Before last Monday’s fracas, he said that the FCT authorities had been trying to resolve the bad blood that the chieftaincy tussle had elicited. “ All I know is that, the age-long chieftaincy tussle between the Gbagyi and Hausa communities here in Bwari may be responsible for this ugly incident, which has claimed about 10 lives and left many shop owners with huge losses and debts, following the razing down of our main market in the town’’, Mathew told our correspondent last Wednesday.
The ethnic dimension
Similarly, probably as a spill over of the leadership tussle, another account has it that the fight started on Sunday night, when a Hausa man allegedly killed a Gbagyi man. In reprisal, the Gbagyis allegedly mobilized in the dead of the night and burnt down the Bwari Market. From then, anarchy was let loose as a free for all ensued, especially between Gbagyi and Hausa people. Significantly, this narrative of the crisis was what dominated the news media and as yet, no official statement has been issued regarding the cause of the mayhem. According to a source who does not want to be named, ‘’we heard it on a good authority that a Hausa man killed a Gbagyi man and in a bid to avenge his death, they burnt down the Bwari main market, which is populated by the Igbo and Hausa traders. I can’t say whether the death has anything connected to the age-long chieftaincy crisis in the area.’’ Reports indicated that several people had left the town at the heat of the crisis.
FCTA imposes dusk-to-dawn curfew
A few hours after the bloodbath, FCT Minister Muhammad Musa Bello went to Bwari on an assessment tour, where he imposed an dusk-to-dawn curfew in the town. According to him, three people lost their lives to the crisis which razed down the main market. Simultaneously, military personnel were also drafted to strengthen police patrol in the town. As yet, the minister has not said whether or not a commission of Inquiry will be set up to unravel the cause of the crisis. As at 11am on Tuesday, firefighters were still busy trying to put out the fire that was still raging in some shops.
Last Wednesday, the FCT police command had not confirmed the arrest of any suspect. Similarly, unconfirmed reports indicated that some hospitals have refused to treat the injured victims of the Bwari attack as the officials demanded police report before treatment.
Trading blames
As some victims count their losses , the Hausa and Gbagiyi communities are still locked in accusation and counter accusation over who was responsible for the crisis. Speaking with Blueprint Weekend, the Etsu Bwari Chiefdom, His Royal Highness Ibraheem Yaro, accused the Hausa community of killing his ‘sons’.
The monarch, who gave the names of his subjects who were killed in the crisis as Wisdom Philip, Julius Dassa and one Timothy, said: “ They (the Hausa) attacked Wisdom Philip while returning from Christmas eve service and killed him.’’ According to the Gbagyi monarch, Hausa people allegedly attacked and killed Julius Dassa and Timothy when his subjects were going to bury Wisdom.
As a lasting solution to the crisis, Etsu Ibraheem called on the government to address the chieftaincy tussle in the town, arguing that it is not possible for a ‘a stranger’ to rule over the land owners. In his own reaction, Sarkin Bwari Awwal Musa Ijakoro, told our correspondent that some suspected cultists and not his subjects, were responsible for the death of the Gbagyi man in question.
Counting the losses
Although just three people were officially declared dead as a result of the crisis, about 10 lives were allegedly lost in the violence, according to Blueprint Weekend’s investigations. Similarly, goods and properties worth N1. 5 billion were lost owing to fighting, burning and looting of about 200 shops in the market.
Mrs. Edith, a tailor told our correspondent that her shop was razed down and she was still in shock about her loss. She prayed to God to plead to her customers whose clothes were burnt in the crisis. “I don’t know what to say because I am still in shock.
I left my shop on December 23rd with everything intact, but when I was called upon that it has been burnt down, I don’t know what to day. I am confused. I have lost a lot of things. All the clothes given to me to work on have been burnt down. The very pathetic one is the cloth that was meant for a traditional wedding and I have asked its owner to come for it. What will I tell him now?’’ According to Edith, she also lost her deep freezer and sewing machine to fire, lamenting that ‘’I will take solace in God, but will my customers reason along this line with me?’’
Another trader named Godwin, who sold food stuff, narrated his ordeal to our correspondent. “I spent all my savings to stock my shop because of the Christmas and the New Year, in order to make profit. Now, I am at loss. Everything has been lost. Where will I start from? I am confused, may God comfort me.
A middle-aged man, Chukwuebeuka Ojikwe, whose father’s shop was also affected, told Blueprint Weekend that his father, Mr. Silas was attending the Christmas service at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Bwari, when he was notified that his shop was among the affected ones.
Ojikwe was still in shock as at Wednesday, about 48 hours after the crisis. He called on the government to assist his father financially. “My father lives on loan and he just obtained another loan to stock his provisions shop last Friday only to be told that his shop has been burnt down. “As I am speaking with you, my father is still in shock, ‘’ he told Blueprint Weekend.
Until the cause of the Christmas day violence is known, crisis in Bwari will continue to recur, so long as the root cause is not addressed.
