Report on Ombatse crisis and matters arising

Last week, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State received the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate and identify the remote and immediate causes of the crisis of the Ombatse sect at Alakyo village, which resulted in the killing of security operatives.
A detachment of security operatives comprising the military, States Security Service, SSS and the Nigeria Police dispatched to quash the bloody ethnic clash between Eggon and Alago, which had claimed many lives and property, were ambushed and attacked by the Ombatse militia, burning their trucks in the process. Not less than 30 security operatives were killed while those who were lucky, escaped with varying degrees of injuries in that unfortunate encounter.
The initial report had alleged that Ombatse was a deadly cult that was being used to foment trouble in Obi Local Government and other areas of the state, but the group denied the allegation that it was a cult. It even alleged that some politicians, including the state governor, Al-Makura, were members and had been funding the group’s activities. There were arguments that the governor used the group to ensure his election in 2011. The governor, however, refuted the allegation. It was part of the effort to tackle the crisis that led to the constitution of the commission of inquiry.
In the course of its proceedings, the commission said it received 22 memoranda by persons, groups, communities and organisations. According to the report, 534 persons were said to have lost their lives while property worth N2.3 billion were destroyed. The chairman of the commission, Justice Joseph Gbadeyan (rtd), had noted that the above figure of persons killed excluded 140 victims for which investigation by the commission could not establish before it wound up its assignment, as well as those who were wounded. The report is now awaiting implementation by the state government.
Indeed, last year was a trying moment for the nation in terms of security challenges. Insurgents sustained their killings and destruction of property in North-East State of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa; ethno-religious crisis in Plateau State did not abate, then the Ombatse crisis in Nasarawa State that left over 30 security personnel dead at Obi Local Government Area of the state added another gory dimension to the problem. The tragedy of losing that many operatives to ethnic conflict and not war, dealt a heavy blow on the nation and was headlined across the world. President Goodluck Jonathan was forced to make a detour from his diplomatic tour of southern African countries in order to address the urgent situation at home.
But after receiving the report of the commission, what will the state government do? Will it be courageous enough to implement the recommendations, especially in view of the fact that the governor was fingered as sympathetic to the group by its leaders? We express this concern because recommendations of previous reports on religious or ethno-religious crises in the country have never been treated seriously owing to factors linked with politics and other narrow-minded interests. For instance, there are reports on the Plateau crisis, the post 2011 presidential election violence in the North, among others.
Besides, in an apparent reprisal attack by the aggrieved operatives, it was reported that the leader of the group that led the attack against the operatives was killed by troops deployed to the area to quell the crisis and a number of persons arrested in connection with the attack.
What happened to some security operatives, who were arrested upon confession that they were members of the sect? Where are the youths of the warring Eggon and Alago communities who were arrested by the police and detained at the state command headquarters?
We urge the Nasarawa State government to make the report of the commission public for proper scrutiny. It should also demonstrate bravery in honour of those who were killed under such circumstance, including the operatives who died in active service and innocent civilians.