Tag: Abuja

Crowds have marched through Jos and Abuja drawing attention to unending killings in Plateau State, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU

There was a note of exasperation when, for four days on end, gunmen raided a community, Bisichi, in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State killing about 20 people. After that incident, more bodies were recovered every day for a week. The event took place last month when United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was visiting.

It was a stunning development coming after Fulani cattle breeders and Berom farmers made peace, returning stolen cows on both sides and pledging love for one another.

That was why protesters took to the streets of Jos, Abuja and other strategic locations to urge action from the federal government, making the point that containing insurgency in the Northeast is as much an emergency as stemming the bloodbath in Plateau.

The protest in Plateau lasted two weeks, featuring clergymen and state and National Assembly legislators.

They said, “President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has, within his first 100 days in office, only concerned himself with the insecurity and humanitarian crisis in the Northeast without a mention of that of Plateau State as if those being killed on the plateau are sub-humans.”

In Abuja, the protesters occupied Unity Gate for six days to welcome Mr. Ban with their posters. The next day, they moved to Transcorp Hilton Hotel where Mr. Ban was lodged. This was done strategically to draw the attention of the UN Secretary General to the humanitarian issues in Plateau State. Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Senator Dino Melaye, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Chief Imam of Abuja, Nuru Khalid convened the protest.

Then, the protesters addressed the press and continued the action in Jos where they occupied premises of the state House of Assembly for hours and then Government House in Little Rayfield.

One of the banners proclaimed,”To Break the Conspiracy of Silence on Killings on the Plateau”. Another urged: “President Buhari must give equal attention to North Central and North East”.

Members of the state House of Assembly joined the crowd of protesters as they moved to Government House. The representative of Riyom Constituency Hon Daniel Dem led his colleagues in the protest, which featured green leaves.

The Anglican Bishop of Jos, Rev Benjamin Kwashi was at the head of the protest too, appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the crisis.

He said, “Plateau State was losing too many citizens to the endless deadly attacks. As a pastor, I have conducted more burials occasioned by attacks than weddings and naming ceremonies since 2001. It’s sad to note that most victims of the attacks are harmless children, some infants, women and youths; the present administration must end the killings, attention should not be concentrated only at the Northeast alone; people are being killed here in Plateau, Benue Nasarawa and Kaduna states.”

“A sad event that revealed that life cost nothing in the state was the fact that four persons that were supposed to be part of the protest were attacked and killed by unknown gunmen in just 12 hours to the protest. Painful as that may be, the protest had to go on as planned, said Dr. Daniel Menshak.

At Government House, Governor Simon Lalong warmly received the protesters, listened to their grief and promised to convey their message to President Buhari.

In the Abuja protest, the spokesperson was Mrs. Kate Pam, who addressed Mr Ban, saying,

“We bring you greetings from the traumatised men, women and children of Plateau State. The attacks on our villages started over 10 years ago by Fulani herdsmen whom we willfully gave our land as pasture for their livestock. Things got to a climax on the 10th March 2010 with the Dogo Nahawa massacre, where over 500 men, women and children were slaughtered in a cowardly dawn attack. From then on, we have had not known peace. Our tormentors have moved from village to village, killing, maiming, looting, shooting, burning.

 

“From May this year, the attacks on our villages have increased in frequency and intensity. The people of Riyom and Barkin Ladi are worst hit. An average of 10 people are killed every week. On the 2nd of May 2015, 27 people were massacred in a COCIN church in Foron. Amongst the dead were the pastor of the church, Rev. Luka Gwom, and a young woman who only just got married two weeks earlier. Two days later 30 people were killed in Zakupang in Barkin Ladi LGA.

“Another attack on Kakpwis village left two men dead. The villages in Barkin Ladi have continued to suffer these attacks, at least twice every week. On the 29th of May 2015, over 500 gunmen invaded Shonong village, leaving a trail of corpses, ashes and smoke. That attack left over a thousand people displaced with about 300 houses razed to rubble. The month of June has also been a nightmare for the people of Barkin Ladi and Riyom. Over 20 villages have been attacked in well-coordinated attacks. In the first 10 days of July, we have witnessed quite a number of attacks already”

The Abuja protesters said in a statement, “You are all witnesses to the effort by concerned citizens of Plateau State to draw national and global attention to our plight, as we face the daily threat of total annihilation. For 6 days, we have occupied the Unity Fountain in the FCT – the symbol of our national unity – drawing the empathy of men and women of goodwill. We have however been unable to draw the attention of the Federal Government, and it is not because we have not tried hard enough. The decimation of a people, their land, and heritage should spark national indignation and criticism, but it has not, as yet. It is almost as if the Nigerian State is in denial of this humanitarian crisis, or perhaps it is a victim of inertia.

“Over a decade, Plateau State has been the theatre of a series of crises, this is no longer news. But in the past few years and especially from the second quarter of this year, the rural communities in Barkin Ladi and Riyom local government areas have witnessed sustained attacks from gunmen. The fury of these violent men is total. They kill and destroy everything in sight: men, women, children, the aged. At the last count, over 40 villages have been completely sacked and completely razed. Farmlands have not been spared. Thousands of acres of arable land have been destroyed.

These attacks have left the people homeless, traumatised, living in abject poverty. The frequency, intensity and scale of these attacks have led us to the conclusion that this is a well thought-through, lavishly financed, and professionally executed act of terrorism.

“While we feel that this crisis has been left to fester for too long, we hesitate to drop the blame at the feet of the federal government, even if it has jurisdiction over the entire security architecture of state. The silence of the victim has emboldened the victimiser. Our effort is aimed at breaking the cycle of violence by breaking the cycle of silence. But it is not only the victim and the victimiser that have been silent. The federal government has hidden its head in the sand, the state government is overwhelmed as its efforts have not yielded fruit as yet. There has been under-reporting of the seriousness of the situation by the media – print, electronic, online. It is almost as if these brutal killings are not happening, as if the people being killed are subhuman.

“We also admit that we have not been quick off the block in speaking out. But it would be immoral not to do so with the recent turn of events. From May this year to date, over 300 people, mostly women, children, and the aged, have been slaughtered in several night attacks. Today, we buried Ibrahim Nyam and Jimmy Pam Pwat will be buried on the 1st of September. They were hacked to death by these evil men last week along the Barkin Ladi – Mangu highway. The death of these young men is perhaps a pungent reminder that we are all potential victims, for they were killed by the roadside, a route that we all ply almost always

“Let us not be deceived that this is a skirmish between herders and farmers. Let us not also think that the problem can be wished away, or ignored. We are witnesses to how this started: a small night attack in 2001 on a remote village called Vwak in Jol ward was torched leaving over a dozen dead. Less than a decade after, 500 people were slaughtered in their sleep in Dogo Nahawa on the 10th of March 2010. From then on, the attackers have moved from village to village, killing, maiming, stealing, burning and destroying. At the last count about half of the local government areas in Plateau State have been attacked. Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Niger, Nasarawa also count their losses from these evil men. This crisis is about good people and bad people; about killers and victims; about innocent Nigerians from diverse backgrounds and deadly, bloodthirsty gunmen. We are all victims, or victims-in-waiting.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is pertinent to remind you that the insurgency in the northeast started with a few disgruntled persons who had nonspecific demands. Sadly, the Federal Government underestimated the size of the fight. Now Boko Haram is not only a national and regional security threat but a global threat to world peace. God forbid that we allow this monster to grow beyond containment before we begin to act. It is better to over-deploy resources in containing the situation while it is still localized, than to wait until more lives are lost before we begin to enjoy citizen protection as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

This crisis has left our people in dire straits. Schools and health centres have been burnt, teachers and health workers have left. Children of school age have lost a minimum of 4 academic sessions; the health needs of the people are unmet. A recent survey, with 1,500 respondents revealed that 73% of the women are hypertensive. This may not be unconnected to the psycho-social trauma occasioned by this crisis. Schools have been converted to IDP camps that have swollen in size due to the influx of more IDPs from the northeast. The wanton destruction of farmlands has place the victims without trade or vocation. The economic effects of this are far-reaching: depletion of source of livelihood and loss of economic land; the state also losses IGR accruable from the entire value chain of vegetables and grains. The beautiful scenery of the Plateau is no longer attractive to tourists, with attendant loss of revenue.

Permit us to acknowledge the role of the security agencies in the state. Without the presence of the Special Task Force, the situation would have been worse. The bravery of the Nigerian military is commendable. This was demonstrated several times. Notably, we acknowledge their role in warding off the attack on Kwi village in July this year. We however call on the military authorities to cull the bad eggs amongst them. For these few unprofessional soldiers, life is for sale and the highest bidder curries their favour. We are aware that those arrested in the past walk freely on the streets now. It has been brought to our notice that about a dozen heavily armed men were apprehended this week by the STF and handed over to the police. We have it on good authority that the police is under intense pressure to release these men and to look the other way.

After all, the protesters put up some demands on the federal government; “We call on the Federal Government to deploy military high-command centers to be stationed in strategic locations within the state, fully equipped with surveillance equipment and hardware. The centers should have a rapid emergency dial code, to facilitate quick communication and a helicopter and vehicles to shorten response time.

We call on the Federal Government to issue an ultimatum to the Nigerian Army to end the mindless killings of innocent people, especially women and children in Plateau State within 3 months as applied to the northeast insurgency.

“As a matter of priority, the STF should work closely with the local communities in information gathering and utilization. Many of these attacks would have been forestalled had the STF been looped into the informal communication network that the natives share. Allegations of impropriety by soldiers should be thoroughly investigated. This is one way to engender trust between the communities and their benefactors – the soldiers.

“We call on NEMA to urgently live up to its constitutional mandate of providing first-line relief to IDPs who suffer incalculable deprivation, and are currently suffering the effects of an inclement weather. Mattresses, bed nets, beddings, water supply, food and toilet facilities are either absent or in short supply.

“Victims of these attacks should be resettled, rehabilitated and compensated, in a similar fashion as planned for victims of terror attacks in the Northeast.

We urge the Federal Government to profile and classify these attacks as acts of terrorism and to diligently prosecute all arrested attackers.”