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Obasanjo Says Sorry for Benue Killings

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
NEWS
January 2, 2003
Posted to the web January 2, 2003
Lagos
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday apologised for a military action he
ordered against some communities in Benue State in Nigeria's central region in
which more than 200 civilians were killed.
Obasanjo was in the Benue capital, Makurdi, to attend a reconciliation forum
organised by the state's branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria. He was
accompanied to the event by the state governor, George Akume.
The president had ordered soldiers after local militiamen who killed 19
soldiers out of troops sent to quell violent clashes between Tivs and their
Jukun neighbours on the border between Benue and Taraba states. The soldiers
carried out reprisal attacks against several Tiv villages located around where
the soldiers were killed, killing at least 200 people and leaving tens of
thousands homeless.
Obasanjo at the time said the soldiers acted in self-defence and refused to
condemn the killings.
"There is no doubt that we...need to seek forgiveness from ourselves," he said
at the reconciliation forum. "For me, I should say to you sorry, it should
never have happened."
The apologies come four days before Obasanjo competes for the presidential
ticket of the ruling People's Democratic Party in the capital Abuja. If
Obasanjo beats four other contenders for nomination, he will have a chance to
run for a second and final term in presidential elections due on 19 April.
Thousands of people have been killed in Nigeria in ethnic and religious
conflicts since Obasanjo's election in 1999 ended 15 years of brutal military
rule. Opponents accuse Obasanjo of mismanaging Nigeria's conflicts. But he has
blamed them on the rot caused by decades of military rule, saying he needs more
time to solve them.

   

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