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BASIL KWEMBE
FROM THE DAILY SUN ARCHIVES COURTESY
OF FRIEND CHARLE OSEGHALE
He is one of three retired colonels in the troubled Kwande local government area in Benue state, but
the only one in the PDP. And whenever talks of the PDP controlled state government allegedly funding a militia came up, his
name was mentioned. Security agencies have even searched his home and places they thought the militia and arms are being kept.
Nothing was found, yet the opposition ANPP insist he is the commander of the militia known as Tiv Defence Corps. Colonel Basil
Kwembe not only denied the accusation, but also blamed ANPP leader Paul Unongo for being the brain behind the crisis in the
area.
You
are alleged to be the commander of a militia called Tiv Defence Corps, how true is this allegation?
I thank you very much for this opportunity to air my views on what I have been hearing. I am Colonel
Basil Kwembehh, I retired from the military in the year 2000, having put in 32 years of meritorious service, meritorious I
said. And during that time, I never had an occasion to be served with query let alone to be charged or tried before a senior
military officer. I believe in constituted authority and that authority comes only from God and nobody else.
I joined politics in 2001 or about that time when I came back, with very good hopes and aspirations.
And I had thought it was the only way I can try and secure better living for my people. I had done this on my own when I was
in the service and I believe if I joined the party in government I would be fulfilling the aim, because I would be where I
would be fulfilling the aim, because I would be where I would be opportuned to help my people. And that’s why I joined
the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP). Little did I think that there could be violence in politics. I never thought of it. I
thought politics consisted of you first selling yourself to the public and telling them why you think you should be the choice
to serve the people and then talking to the people about your party manifesto, that flowery, beautiful thing. That was my
concept of politics.
But when I got into politics, the firs thing that struck me most was the fact that about February,
some groups of ANPP supporters, which is in opposition, headed for one old man’s house around Jato Aka, a man that is
above 90, killed the man, destroyed his property and burnt his house. That thing gave me the trauma of my life. The first
thought in me was to withdraw, but I had gone in a bit too far to withdraw. And given my background, if I withdrew I will
be called a coward. Otherwise, that was enough incentive for me to withdraw from politics.
But interestingly, during this time, I heard about militia force being trained by Paul Unongo. He
had engaged the services of some of the officers that were with me in service. To be very blunt, people like Colonel Aboho
who happened to be my mate in the academy. They were training militia. I heard this story, but it was like a far-fetched thing
to me, until these incidents started to happen, which I’ve just told you, about the killings. Could it have been true?
As if that was not enough. The next time I met this kind of violence was during the 2003 April general election.
Even when ANPP had won all the major elections in the local government (Kwande) and the senatorial
zone, because the senator went to them, (that is senator Saror), the House of Representatives and even the state House of
Assembly, they were not satisfied. After the election, without provocation, these people went on and burnt a lot of the houses
belonging to members of the PDP. My house was burnt in town. Three cars of mine were also among so many others.
You see, that made me think of one thing. I could remember when I was in service, we heard of arms
race sometime ago, with these major powers building up and when they built up and everybody had gone to saturation, they feel
like testing out what they have done. So if this story of Paul Unongo training militia was true, as we saw it manifested,
then it was so because there was no opportunity for them (in the past) to come up and do those things they had been taught
in training and use the arms they acquired. They came out band did all that they did because they had been itching to do so
and created the opportunity.
As if that was not enough, when we came to local government election of 2004, on the eve of the election,
March 26, armed bandits or militias, drove in a 504 station wagon right into where PDP youths were staying in the PDP secretariat.
Four people came out with lethal weapons, rifles, as I know them to be, fired at these boys, killing four on the spot. Several
others were wounded, who were taken to various hospitals. Many of them died in the hospital. The next day which was Election
Day 27th of March 2004, there were killings at Jato Aka. I think this included one electoral officer.
Now tell me sincerely, if colonel Kwembeh, on the PDP side, had trained militias, would I allow my
party men to be killed, to be treated this way? That’s why I get really pissed off when I hear people talking about
Colonel Kwembeh training or getting militias.
I must be a fool to have that much on me and allow all these incidents to go scot free without reaction.
So to answer your question directly, I have no militia, training them, I have no connection with any militia, training them,
maintaining them or using them. I have no idea whatsoever.
I think what is happening is that I am the only Colonel in that local government on the PDP side,
any violence is associated with Colonel Kwembeh. I have no idea whatsoever.
As a result of all the violence in that area (Kwande) Dr. Paul Unongo has called for the
imposition of a state of emergency in Benue. Do you think this is the solution to the problem?
You see, right from the beginning, Paul Unongo had said he was playing his last card in politics. And I
do not wonder at all if the story of the militia that he was training was true, because he was to back up the fact that he
wanted to make the governor’s seat by all means. I wouldn’t be surprised. Now having said that, he contested with
Governor Akume on the ANPP side, while Akume was on the PDP side, Akume got the seat. Having failed, I am very sure he is
looking for ways that would make it impossible for his opponent who got the ticket to rule the state.
A state of emergency as far as I am concerned is not the answer to this case. A state of emergency,
is it in Kwande, as a local government or state of emergency in Benue which consists of 23 local governments and 22 of which
consists have no problem? I don’t know on which one he is calling for state of emergency?
And now, let us address the Kwande problem. Even in Kwande, we have four administrative areas. We
have Nanev, we have Shangev, which we refer to as zone A; then we have Turan and we have Ikurav-ya which we refer to as zone
B, these four administrative areas make up the local government Kwande.
I am glad to say that the senate sent in a committee to see things for themselves. They went there.
They went to Nanev, they went to Shangev, and life was very normal. They went to Adikpo, life was very normal. Jato-Aka of
course, which is where Paul Unongo comes from, life has not completely returned to normal in that place. But as we are talking
now, people are coming back and I believe in the next few weeks, that place will also return to normal
I think his call for a state of emergency is just to achieve his aim of being there; otherwise, the
situation in Kwande does not in any way call for a state of emergency. The situation in Benue state, for example, I gave example
of 23 local governments, 22 of which are going about their normal thing. Is it in Kwande? Even in Kwande, it is only in that
little administrative area belonging to Paul Unongo that we are trying to bring peace, life into it.
So to answer your question, the situation in Benue state, as I have explained does not call for a
state of emergency. But rather I would think of a situation where all of us would sit at a conference table, with Paul there,
coming as number one, because if he does not come, we have not started because. He is the arrowhead of the problem. So if
he comes in, we will sit down and work out how we can bring peace to our own area. We are talking of Kwande, and we are not
talking of Benue state. So the issue of state of emergency does not arise.
The arrowhead, Paul Unongo seems not prepared for a negotiated resolution of the crisis.
What do you think should be done to people like him who have been identified as the major cause of the crisis?
What I say are my personal views. You see, nobody is above the law. The law reigns supreme. If all
efforts made to bring Paul Unongo to the conference table to sort out the problem fail, let the law take its course, he should
be brought to book.
He cannot continue to keep us in suffering asw we are. He should be arrested and brought to book.
I think that is the way. But if he wants to come around to a conference table with us, we will be very willing. Let us know
what he wants and we can amicably sort it out. Otherwise, the authorities should demonstrate to him that he is not above the
law.
Who do you think is responsible for the attacks on ANPP in Kwande?
You see, I have given three instances where PDP members have been killed, their houses burnt, they have been attacked,
their properties destroyed. When there was this court verdict, I do not know the date exactly, but it was on a Friday, when
ANPP were told in the court that the court had no jurisdiction that they should go to the tribunal. And again for the third
or fourth time, they resumed burning of houses and the killings.
PDP youths gathered together and said now, we have been pressed to the wall. With these successive
incidents of violence, what else are we going to do? We don’t know where we would be. If we are to be killed at least,
let them see us kick a foot or so. And I am sure that was the reaction from the PDP youths, from members of the PDP. Members
of PDP say no, we wouldn’t just fold our arms to be killed. We’ve done it thinking that authorities would come
in to stop it. They’ve not stopped it on over three to four occasions. We cannot just fold our arms to be slaughtered.
I think that is just what happened.
What is the current situation in Kwande now?
I think there is a relative calm now. In the three administrative areas of Kwande, talking about Nanev, Shangev-ya
and Ikyurav-ya, life has returned to normal. The only place that people are worried is Turan, but why they are worried is
that groups of local ANPP boys, have gone from one village to the other destroying houses, doing all sort of harms to the
people, in the villages, not even in their cities, but in the villages. But we hope that with time it will die down.
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ANATOMY OF VIOLENCE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM
BY CHRIS ALDERS
Greetings and salutations!
The World Health Organization seems to come to the public's attention
solely when there is an outbreak of a new disease or strain of flu. As
part of its mandate, this group also conducts much in the way of
meaningful research and vital findings on many other issues pertaining to
health.
Recently, the Director-General of the WHO, Lee Jong-wook, a South
Korean by birth, delivered a highly interesting speech in Puerto Ordaz,
Venezuela. Its subject was the World Violence and Health Report, which the
World Health Organization had released in 2002.
What is especially significant about this address is the idea that
issues related to public health are not the sole domain of political
oligarchies but can be shaped by all citizens in all countries. The speech,
given on March 16, 2004, is presented below in its entirety.
Take care and adios for now,
Chris
Address on the World Violence Report
Mr President, Honourable Ministers, Distinguished guests,
On a global scale, violence kills 1.6 million people a year. It leaves
millions more with injuries, disabilities and mental disorders. Its
causes are complex and its consequences are devastating.
In order to provide the latest information about violence, WHO launched
the World Report on Violence and Health in 2002. This is the first
report to provide a comprehensive view of the magnitude of violence around
the world, the factors that lead to violence and, at the same time, the
potential that exists to tackle this global public health problem.
It provides data from around the world on suicide, child abuse, youth
violence, sexual violence, abuse of the elderly, violence between
intimate partners and other areas of personal and social conflict.
The World Report on Violence and Health has three main goals.
The first is to raise awareness of violence as a global public health
problem. It is not simply an issue for the police and justice
departments, for the military or for international security councils.
Secondly, the Report highlights the contributions of public health to
understanding and preventing violence.
The Report’s third goal is to increase the level of action taken by the
public health community in response, to prevent violence. The aim is a
better balance between the health problems caused by violence and the
resources invested in preventing it.
Deaths are only a very small part of the problem of violence. For each
death caused by violence, there are many other people who suffer the
social, psychological and physical consequences of violence.
Nevertheless, when deaths caused by violence are compared with deaths caused by
other global public health problems, the importance of violence becomes
alarmingly clear.
In 2000, there were over 1.6 million deaths due to violence. This is
about half the number of deaths due to HIV/AIDS in that year, and about
equal to the number of deaths due to tuberculosis. In 2000, violence
took more lives than road traffic crashes and malaria.
At the broadest level, violence is divided into three major categories:
self-directed, interpersonal and collective. So we differentiate
between violence a person inflicts upon himself or herself; violence
inflicted by another individual or small group of individuals; and violence
inflicted by larger groups or states.
The three broad categories are each further divided to reflect more
specific types of violence. Self-directed violence is divided into
suicidal behaviour and self-abuse. Interpersonal violence is divided into
family and partner violence – largely occurring in the home, though not
exclusively; and community violence - which includes violence between
individuals who are unrelated, such as youth violence, rape and sexual
assault by strangers, and violence in institutional settings like schools,
workplaces, prisons and nursing homes.
Collective violence is divided into social, political and economic
violence. It can take a variety of forms: armed conflict within and between
states, genocide, repression and other human rights abuses, terrorism
and organized violent crime.
When we speak of violence it is important to understand these different
categories. However, it is also crucial to understand that they are
closely interrelated. First, many risk factors are common to all forms of
violence. These include alcohol, drugs, firearms and economic and
social inequalities. Reducing these risk factors will reduce all types of
violence.
Therefore, preventing one type of violence will help prevent other
kinds too.
Facts and figures clearly demonstrate the enormous impact of violence
on public health and health systems. But, behind these figures are
individuals and human tragedies. Violence of all types has a dramatic effect
on the lives of the victims, the perpetrators and their families, often
for a lifetime and sometimes for several generations. I would like to
show you a short film: "The Challenge of Violence". This film
illustrates one particular type of violence, child abuse, and how it is
intricately linked to other types of violence. It gives us an insight into the
consequences of violence encountered in the earliest and most vulnerable
years of life.
To begin to tackle the problem of violence, we need to know its
magnitude. Contrary to the impression given by the media, the largest number
of violent deaths in 2000 was due not to war but to suicide: 815,000
cases - or one suicide every forty seconds. Interpersonal violence
accounted for 520,000 deaths: or one murder per minute. There were 310,000
deaths directly due to collective violence.
The data available show that for different types of violence, rates of
death vary by country, region and economic level. This map shows
homicide rates in the different continents. Homicide rates were highest in
Africa, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe, and lowest in
Western Europe and some countries in the western Pacific. Studies show a
strong relationship between homicide rates, economic development and
economic inequality with poorer countries tending to have higher rates of
homicide than wealthier countries.
Among regions, Latin America has the highest homicide rate among young
people between ten and twenty-nine years of age, 36.5 per 100 000.
Where data are available, some of the highest rates are in Colombia, El
Salvador and Puerto Rico.
Suicide rates show a very different geographical distribution to
homicide rates. Except for central and eastern Europe which have high
homicide and high suicide rates, the highest rates of suicide occur in the
regions where homicide is lowest. At the country level, wealthier
countries tend to have higher levels of suicide than poorer countries. Low
rates of suicide are found in Latin America, notably Colombia and Paraguay.
These data are essential to understanding the issues we face. But
currently there is no adequate information on the numbers of people killed
by violence in more than half the world’s countries. The numbers we have
almost certainly underestimate the true extent of the problem. And, as
I mentioned, deaths are only a very small part of the problem.
Non-fatal health outcomes are far more likely, and to count these we
must begin by looking at cases reported to health agencies or to the
police. But we know that this is only a small proportion of them. Studies
from a variety of countries show that for every victim reporting to the
police there are at least two more that report only to health agencies.
For instance, for every young person murdered, there are at least
twenty to forty other young people who receive hospital treatment for a
violent injury.
A larger proportion of violence is reported in surveys and special
studies. These have shown, for instance, high rates of physical and sexual
violence. For example, depending on the country and the study, about
one in three women have been physically assaulted by an intimate partner
at some point in their lives and sexually abused by a partner in
one-third to over one-half of these cases.
In some studies, nearly half of the parents interviewed reported that
they had hit, kicked or severely beaten their children.
About 4 - 6% of the elderly report having been abused in their homes by
caregivers. Many have also been subjected to abuse in institutions.
Large numbers of women and girls have been bought and sold into
prostitution or subjected to violence in schools, health care and refugee
settings.
A lot of violence never gets reported. Sometimes this is because of
fear or shame or because violence is accepted as “normal”. Other times it
is due to inadequate reporting and recording systems.
No single factor can explain why one individual, community or society
is more or less likely to experience violence. Violence is the result of
a complex interaction of factors ranging from the biological to the
political. It is essential to understand these factors and how they are
interrelated in order to prevent violence and reduce its consequences.
An ecological model organizes the risk factors for violence into four
interacting levels:
• Individual-level risks include demographic factors such as age,
income and education; psychological and personality disorders, alcohol and
substance abuse, and a history of engaging in violent behaviour or
experiencing abuse.
• The relationship level examines how families, friends, intimate
partners and peers increase the risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of
violence. It takes into account such factors as poor parenting and
family dysfunction, marital conflict and friends who engage in violent or
delinquent behaviour.
• The community level refers to social settings such as neighbourhoods,
schools, workplaces and other institutions. Some characteristics of
these settings increase the risk for violence – for example, poverty, high
residential mobility and unemployment, social isolation, the existence
of a local drug trade, and weak policies and programmes within
institutions.
• At the societal level, there are broad factors that help to create a
climate that encourages violence. This includes polices that maintain
or increase economic and social inequalities; social and cultural norms
that support the use of violence; the availability of means (such as
firearms) and weak criminal justice systems that do not adequately
prosecute perpetrators.
There are several proven and promising strategies for preventing
violence at these different levels:
• At the individual level, approaches to changing behaviour include
pre-school enrichment and social development programmes, as well as
vocational training and incentives to complete secondary schooling. These
approaches can help ensure academic success, manage anger, and build
skills. Similar life-skills and educational approaches around issues of
gender, relationships and power, have been used to address physical and
sexual violence against women. Effective treatment and counselling can do
much to reduce the risk of suicide or the potential for further
physical and psychosocial harm associated with other forms of violence.
• At the relational level, some of the most effective strategies are
those delivered in early childhood, such as parenting programmes. This
involves providing support and advice through home visits in the first
three years of a child’s life or family therapy for dysfunctional
families. These strategies have yielded reductions in child abuse and violent
and delinquent behaviour among young people.
• Measures that can be taken at the community-level include reducing
the availability of alcohol, creating extracurricular activities such as
sports for young people, improving institutional settings (such as
schools, workplaces, hospitals and long-term care institutions for the
elderly), and improving health care and access to services.
• At the societal level, accurate public information about the causes
of violence, about its risks and how to prevent it, is key to raising
awareness and stimulating action. It is equally important to strengthen
law enforcement and judicial systems, to implement policies and
programmes to reduce poverty and inequalities of all kinds, and improve support
for families. It is also important to reduce access to the means of
violence and to promote adherence to international treaties. For example,
Latin America is a pioneer in the global process of ratifying the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. National parliaments have passed laws
which have led to official recognition of the role of the family in
child care and development.
I would like to close with a quick look at the work around the Report
here in this region. Several governments and nongovernmental
organizations have rallied around the call to action and joined WHO’s Global
Campaign for the Prevention of Violence. In just one year, following the
launch of the report, national launches have taken place in Brazil,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and
Puerto Rico. A national report on violence has been released in Costa
Rica and Mexico.
One of the report’s recommendations calls for increased collaboration
and exchange of information. To this end, I launched the Global
Interpersonal Violence Prevention Alliance just two months ago. This alliance
brings together partners from around the world with expertise in
violence research, training, advocacy and prevention programming. Here in
Latin America, there are already many such networks, such as the
Inter-American Coalition for Violence Prevention, working to implement the
report’s recommendations.
There are also many examples of cooperation among WHO, PAHO and experts
in countries throughout the region, including the WHO Collaborating
Centre for Violence Prevention in Cali, Colombia, el Centro de
Investigaciones de Salud y Violencia. In addition, WHO and UNDP have recently
announced their collaboration on a programme to reduce violence involving
firearms. This effort, the armed violence prevention programme, will
help selected countries in this region to develop policies to address
armed violence and to develop and evaluate of violence prevention
practices.
In this region and around the world, we are faced with great challenges
in violence prevention and the care of those affected by violence.
Millions of lives are touched by violence. But we have the knowledge to
reduce the harm it does to these lives. WHO is calling for increased
political commitment at all levels to reducing violence. Countries should
identify a focal point in the government for violence prevention
activities. National reports and plans of action should be developed and
implemented. Data collection and the provision of services for victims must
be prioritized.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak today.
Chris Alders
24 Fairview Street
Kentville, Nova Scotia
B4N 1G2
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AKERKPEV, DOOYUM
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