Guardian

IT took a lot of encouraging words and loads of persuasion to convince Sarah Maaji, whose fiancé, the late Corporal Audu Nanpum, was among the policemen allegedly killed in Alakyo village in Eggon Council of Nasarawa State on May 7 by the Ombatse cult group, to recount her pains since then.

On Friday, June 7, it will be exactly one month after the dark cloud hung in the horizon for the bereaved. Yet there is no sign that things are going to get better for some of them. Their sorrows and pains are not easing. If anything, anxiety is mounting for those who are yet to be handed the bodies of their  loved ones.

At the base of Mopol 38 Squadron in Akwanga where the police officers were drafted for the assignment, virtually all the wives of the victims were said to have packed out of the barracks, even as those living around the premises were said to have relocated to their villages.

Those who survived the attack, 13 of them,  feel abandoned by government, as the injured ones are said to be currently footing their medical bills at the Lafia Specialist Hospital in the state capital, while some of them who have been discharged are still being held down by the hospital management over outstanding payments.

One of the most pathetic cases is that of 35-year-old Audu from Plateau State, whose body is yet to be found almost one month after the attack.

He had shortly before embarking on the “duty of no return” done his marriage introduction to his in-laws said to be in the same Eggon, with his heartthrob, Sarah, in the hands of whose kinsmen he met his brutal death while on official duty to the village.

When The Guardian visited Sarah at her home in Akwanga, the 25-year-old, in an emotion-laden voice, after persistent persuasion, relived her story.

“Our traditional marriage was to come in July and all arrangements to that effect had been concluded and I was looking forward to the D-Day not knowing what fate had for me.

“The most painful part of the incident is that when I was told that my husband-to-be was among those killed in my village, I immediately called his phone line and it went through.

“I spoke with the person that picked his call and he responded in our native language. I then told him that my husband was among those policemen and owner of the phone and that they should please spare his life.

“I was surprised when he retorted and asked me why I got married to a non-Eggon person and that in fact, my husband had been killed,” she bemoaned.

Sarah said she was and still is shell-shocked that she is finding it difficult to sleep well till date, moreso as Audu’s body is yet to be recovered.

Ngbede Garba, who hails from Apa Council of Benue State, is one of the few police officers who survived the attack.

His reluctance to speak to The Guardian concerning the incident was understandable for many reasons, including officialdom.

But he disclosed that he had to foot his medical bills himself, while counting himself fortunate and favoured to have come back alive.

According to the 43-year-old corporal, he witnessed his colleagues being slaughtered by the cult members, adding: “They used machete on me severally, but it could not cut me. You can see the scars on my face,” as he pulled off his shirt to show the minor wounds he sustained in the attack.

Meanwhile, the police authorities are yet to compensate the widows and families of the late officers.

Whereas the Nasarawa State government has given out N1million each to their widows, the police authorities are still battling to ascertain the status of the widows and their families, as if the list used by the state government to compensate them is not enough.

The Commissioner of Police, Umar Shehu, who has just being posted to the state, said the incident took place before he was redeployed and as such, he could not comment on the mode of compensation.

The affected families are to meet with the police authorities today, although reasons for the meeting have not been made known. But it may not be unconnected with verification exercise for further compensation, a source told The Guardian.

In Alakyo village, which is about 10 kilometres from Lafia, tension was still high, as the fear of the unknown reigns.

At the time The Guardian visited, most residents had relocated to other towns and villages for fear of envisaged reprisals from the security agencies.

An indigene of Eggon who identified himself as simply Umar, said they would not want a taste of the Odi (Bayelsa State) and Zaki Biam (Benue State) experiences; hence their relocation to areas considered safer.