There is no massacre in Konshisha – Defence Hqrs

The Defence Headquarters of the Nigerian Armed Forces has refuted reports of mass killing of innocent civilians, destruction of houses and other property by the military in Konshisha Local Government Area, Benue State, last week. The military insisted that there was no massacre during a search operation after attacks on troops and killing of 11 soldiers by bandits in Benue State.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement in Abuja indicated that the Defence Headquarters has oversight responsibility for Operation WHIRL STROKE deployed to maintain peace in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states; therefore, found it necessary to refute the spurious allegations and put the records straight.
the Acting Director of Defence Information narrated that
there have been incessant cases of communal clashes in recent times between indigenes of Konshisha and Oju over land boundary demarcation. He emphasized that the Benue State Government held series of meetings with stakeholders from both local governments with a view to arriving at amicable solution to the crisis, noting that appreciable progress was being made and a final date fixed for all stakeholders to meet in the disputed areas to properly demarcate the controversial boundary to restore peace.

Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu stated that unfortunately the resolution and peace initiatives were scuttled on the eve of the final meeting during the Easter holidays, when fresh fighting erupted in the area.

The Information Director disclosed that the 72 Special Forces Battalion has troops deployed on the Oju side of the boundary, narrating that troops of the Battalion were on their way to replenish their colleagues on 5 April 2021, when they were attacked by armed bandits at Bonta in Konshisha. Brigadier General Nwachukwu said that the troops under the command of a Captain were seized at a checkpoint mounted by the “Bonta Boys” and taken into Konshisha forest where they were all murdered. “Not satisfied with killing the soldiers, the bandits proceeded to burn all the 11 soldiers and their officer beyond recognition while their weapons and ammunition were carted away,” Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, decried.  He admitted that military reinforcements were dispatched to Bonta the following morning, noting that unfortunately, the reinforcement also came under attack by about 500 armed youths, who by this time had fully occupied Bonta. The Brigadier General stated that the sheer number of youths involved in the attacks suggested that the armed bandits were not from Bonta alone but were joined by bandits from other parts of Konshisha Local Government Area.

Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu also stated that the military repelled the attack after over four hours of intense fighting during which military helicopter provided close air support to ground troops. He revealed that the troops killed 10 armed bandits during the fight, recovered the rifle of one of the soldiers killed in action soldiers.
Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu had declared in part: “The Defence Headquarters wish to put it on record that apart from this initial 10 bandits, there were no other civilian casualties recorded in any part of Konshisha. We, therefore, challenge anybody from Konshisha to present to the public the 200, 70 or 30 dead bodies of innocent persons, male, female, or children killed by troops in Konshisha. There was never a massacre as being touted by some mischief makers.”

Brigadier General Nwachukwu narrated that the remnants of the armed bandits that escaped from Bonta withdrew into neighbouring villages where they kept on attacking troops as they continued with the search operation through Bonta into other parts of Konshisha. “Knowing the implications of killing troops in cold blood, most of the villagers fled their homes which were then occupied by armed bandits who kept firing at troops from the settlements as they advanced into Konshisha. Troops repelled the attacks and destroyed the houses and other buildings which the criminals used as hideout for the attacks.

“The use of abandoned settlements by armed bandits to attack troops is popular with insurgents. The aim is to draw military fire into the dwellings and then turn round to blame soldiers for the destruction. This is common guerilla tactics armed bandit designed to whip up public sentiment against security forces and this is what played out in Konshisha,” Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu highlighted.

The Brigadier maintained that this accounted for some of the burnt houses being reported in the press. He said that some of the phones of the dead soldiers were also tracked to some of the settlements.

“We should, therefore, blame the armed bandits for the destruction since they used these settlements as hideout for attacks. It will be wrong to blame soldiers who are in Konshisha on legitimate duties when some of them were murdered in cold blood.

“Some of the buildings being paraded today were actually burnt during earlier communal clashes between Konshisha and Oju, all of which the sponsors of the mayhem are now blaming on the military,” Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu argued.

The Defence Director of Information had declared: “the Defence Headquarters wishes to state that soldiers deployed to Konshisha displayed commendable restraints by adhering to the rules of engagement in the face of unprovoked attacks and therefore deserve accolades.

“In addition to the return of all carted away weapons, the local leaders of Konshisha must bring the main actors responsible for the mayhem to security forces to face justice.

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“They must also surrender all other weapons in their possession. The military will not tolerate the jungle justice attitude and dastardly acts leading to the gruesome murder of patriotic soldiers on legitimate duty to keep the peace.

“We look forward to working with the Benue State Government in its promise to support security forces in fishing out those fomenting trouble in Konshisha. “Once again, there is no massacre in Konshisha and the stories making the rounds are fabricated by bandits and their sponsors to smear the military after murdering troops in cold blood.”
For residents of Konshisha, last Friday was a Black Friday in their community. Many of them moaned, rained curses on Governor Samuel Ortom, some leaders in the Benue State and officers of the Nigerian Army. Pictures of inferno in communities set ablaze by the military were flooded on social media by the people. There were claims of 70 people being killed by the Nigerian Army in the operation. There were claims that victims of the military onslaught were innocent civilians.

However, the Defence Headquarters in the statement last Friday by Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Information Director, disputed the reports as false, and setting the record straight.