Governors in the six North-Central states on Tuesday lamented the attacks and killings in Plateau State by gunmen, calling on the Federal Government to do everything possible to get to its roots and find a permanent solution.
The Chairman of the North Central Governors Forum and Governor of Nassarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, said the Plateau killings should not be tagged herder-farmer clashes. Rather, he said what is happening in Plateau is similar to what happened in Rwanda.
The 1994 Rwanda genocide led to the killing of about 800,000 members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group.
The NCGF chairman, on Tuesday, led his colleagues on a condolence visit to the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, in Jos, during which they donated N100m to the victims of the Christmas Eve attack.
He was accompanied by governors of Niger and Benue states, Mohammed Bago and Rev Fr Hyancinth Alia, respectively.
Freelanews reports that gunmen, on Christmas Eve, attacked 25 communities in three local government areas of Plateau State, killing over 150 people and razing about 221 houses.
The attacks, which affected Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu LGAs, led to the displacement of over 10,000 residents of the attacked communities.
Sule, speaking on Tuesday, said the attacks in Plateau had persisted for too long, adding that it was time the Federal Government got to the roots of the problem and a find lasting solution.
He said, “We have seen a similar situation in Rwanda because I won’t call what is happening in Plateau farmer-herder crisis. It’s not. We have seen what happened in Rwanda and luckily, all four of us governors were there and we listened to the President of Rwanda when he told us about the courage that he took to actually invite everybody that is involved and look at the root causes.
“We cannot allow a few people for selfish reasons to come in and destroy all of us. This is not about Fulani. It is about criminals and we are asking the Federal Government to assist us and deal with the problem.”
Sule said the NCGF was in Plateau to sympathise with the governor, wondering what had happened to the peace that used to be enjoyed on the Plateau.
He said, “When we were coming, we talked about the peace that we have always enjoyed on the Plateau; the love that has always been there, the period that some of us would walk from Dilimi, Rex, Kwararafa, the New Era and back to Kasua Dareng.Those loving periods that all the people in Plateau used to enjoy; what has happened?
“Your Excellency, we came all the way to ask you to take the courage to find out the root cause of this matter because we can’t continue to live like this.
“We are here to share with you whatever situation you find yourself in. I was here on a similar sad note, together with our delegation from Nasarawa State when it happened during the period of your predecessor. And during the period we asked specifically for the religious leaders to be the ones in the majority because we wanted to talk directly with our religious leaders, to talk to them about the need to continue to preach peace to our people.”
Mutfwang, in his remarks, thanked the governors for their concern over the situation in Plateau, noting that the people of the state were desirous of unity and progress.
Mutfwang said, “Bandits are terrorists and kidnappers are thieves. We need to label them as such so that we deal with them as such. The North Central contains much of the resources of Nigeria and when we face these people as criminals, it will be for the good of all of us. If the North Central gets it right, Nigeria will get it right.”
WHO donate trauma kits
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation, on Tuesday, donated trauma kits to the Plateau State government to provide succour for victims of the Christmas Eve attacks.
The WHO Coordinator in Plateau State, Musa Mahdi, who presented the kits in Jos, said the gesture was in line with the organisation’s mandate to support the government in addressing humanitarian crises.
Mahdi said, “These trauma kits have over 60 pieces of equipment in each of them that can be used to conduct over 200 procedures and attend to over 100 persons with severe injuries.
“We are presenting this to the Plateau government to enable it to respond and provide immediate remedy to all health emergencies.”
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Cletus Shirkuk, who received the items, thanked WHO for the gesture and promised that the items would be put to good use.
NBA, Ositelu condemn attacks
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), in his New Year message, condemned the December 24 attacks in Plateau communities, saying they were “clearly indicative of poor intelligence gathering or a deliberate failure to act despite the intelligence on the impending attacks on the villages.”
Maikyau said the government should be more responsive to security loopholes in the country and prioritise the safety of the lives and property of citizens at all times.
“The Federal Government must adopt a holistic approach to the issue of security while not overlooking the peculiarities of each region and design bespoke measures to deal with them,” he said.
Similarly, the Primate of The Church of the Lord Worldwide and President of World Council of Churches from Africa, Rufus Ositelu, in his New Year message, asked President Bola Tinubu to take necessary actions to stop the killings of Christians across the country.
The cleric also called on the Christian Association of Nigeria to meet with the Federal Government and proffer lasting solutions to issues of insecurity ravaging the country.
Discover more from Freelanews
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Discussion about this post