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Tag: Plateau

  • Plateau LG polls: Angry youths block roads, insist on results

    Angry youths in Mangu have blocked the only road leading to Jos to protest alleged refusal of electoral officers to release the results of the Plateau local governments elections held on Wednesday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the youths have refused all entreaties to vacate the road, and have vowed to remain there until the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC), announced the outcome of the polls.

    NAN sources indicated that trouble started Wednesday night when the Returning Officer for the local government, Mr Christopher Beten, General Manager, Plateau Environmental Protection Agency, started the collation of results from the wards, but abandoned the exercise midway.

    “The official had collected results from some wards when a call came. He immediately told the agents and other ward returning officers waiting to take their turns, that he had been summoned to Jos,” a security source told NAN.

    The source said that the caller also spoke with the Electoral Officer in charge of Mangu Local Government, Mr Hosea Plang, as well as a senior Police officer maintaining law and order at the centre, adding that the trio left the collation centre few minutes later.

    “This happened last night, but since they left, we have not seen any of them.

    “We suspect that they want to manufacture figures and announce same in Jos. That is why the youths are angry and have reacted by blocking the highway to demand for the declaration of the results,” the source told NAN.

    NAN reports that following the youths’ action, motorists coming from Shendam and Langtang axis have been stopped from moving to Jos, while those from Jos are massed up on the other side, waiting to be allowed to move.

    A spokesman of the youths, who gave his name as James, told NAN that the road would remain blocked “until the Returning Officer comes back to declare the result of yesterday’s election”.

    “We, the youths of Mangu, will not allow any car to pass through Mangu town until the needful is done by PLASIEC officials that conducted the local governments elections yesterday (Wednesday),” he said.

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    Contacted, Mr Terna Tyopev, spokesman of the Plateau Police Command, confirmed the protest, but said that security personnel were trying to calm the youths.

    “We are trying to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand.

    “The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), in Mangu has confirmed the whole situation to me, but we are doing our best and have appealed to the youths to be peaceful in their protest, ’’ he said.

    NAN reports that a similar situation is brewing in Pankshin Local Government where the PLASIEC Returning Officer has yet to show up at the collation centre as at 8.22 a.m. this morning.

    “We have just brought results collated from the wards to the local government collation centre, but there is no single PLASIEC official around to receive them,” Mr Samuel Goar, a former chairman of the local government, told NAN on Thursday.

    According to him “there appears to be some sinister move by PLASIEC and the state government to manipulate the election in favour of a political party, but we shall not accept such manipulation”.

    He said that candidates worked very hard for success at the polls and should not be robbed of the fruits of such labour.

    Also Speaking, Mr Dom Joseph, an official of the PDP, decried the attitude of PLASIEC officials, declaring that such behaviour was “shocking, disturbing and uncalled for”.

    “We suspected some foul play when they started sharing the sensitive materials and distributed duplicated copies of the results sheets instead of the original, to the 20 wards.

    “Since last night, we have been waiting for the PLASIEC officials, but none has surfaced so far. I have never seen a situation like this,” he said.

    Mr Benedict Shiknughul, PDP Vice Chariman, Plateau Central, told NAN in Mangu that the situation was “scary”.

    “What we have gathered is that PLASIEC has been told not to announce any result at the collation centres. The ploy is to cook figures and announce same in Jos.

    “We are surprised by what is happening because the tension it is generating is not good for the security situation in Plateau,” he said.

    Contacted, Mr Joshua Pesun, PLASIEC commissioner in charge of voter education and publicity, refused to comment on the development.

    “I cannot comment on this matter. Please contact the Chairman of the commission,” he told NAN.

  • Find General Alkali, other missing Nigerians, Senate tells FG

    The Senate on Wednesday asked the Federal Government to intensify efforts aimed at finding the missing Director of Administration of the Nigerian Army, Major General Ibrahim Alkali (rtd).

    Alkali was reported to have disappeared in Dura Du area of Plateau State on Monday, September 4, barely two months after his retirement from the army.

    The upper chamber also urged the government to take steps to locate other missing Nigerians.

    It prayed the government to set up an investigative panel of inquiries to unravel the circumstances surrounding the dumping of cars found in ponds of Lafande community in the Du District of the state.

    The Senate asked the government to identify possible suspects in the dastardly act and ensure that the perpetrators face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrent to other criminally-minded persons in the strongest possible terms.

    The resolutions followed a motion, on “The disappearance of retired Major General I. M. Alkali”, sponsored by Senator Mohammed Hassan (PDP Yobe South) at plenary yesterday.

    Senator Hassan in his lead debate noted that the wife of General Alkali, Salamatu had on September 4, alerted the Army authorities that her husband who departed Abuja in the morning of the previous day for Bauchi had not reached his destination.

    He said that Salamatu said that her husband told her at about noon of the previous day that he arrived Jos safely and would be passing Du road to Bauchi.

    He said, “That was the last communication she had with her husband until this moment as his where-about is presently unknown”.

    Hassan said that “following his disappearance, the Nigerian Army, with the support of the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, Fire Service and other security agencies embark on intensive search vide tracking of his phone up to when it was switched off as well as relying on tips-off”.

    He explained that when earlier efforts of the Army and other security agencies didn’t yield the desired result, a pool of water in Lafande community was drained amid protest by the local women, who claimed that it was their only source of drinking water.

    The lawmaker lamented that “after two days of draining of the pond, a bus was found in it alleged to belong to a new young man that had earlier disappeared along that road, while on 29th September, 2018 at about 6.00pm, a Toyota car with registration number MUN 670 AA belonging to Major General I.M. Alkali was pulled out of the water with some of his belongings without any trace of his person, while another car, Rover was recovered from the pond whose owner disappeared in 2013”.

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    He said that concern over reported disappearance of numerous commuters along the Du axis for the past years, especially Bauchi onward bound travellers, should be addressed urgently.

    The incident, according to him, raises some pertinent questions, including “Why did the people from Du community refuse to assist the security agencies during the search.”

    “Why did the people (women) try to prevent the Army from draining the water.”

    “Why didn’t the community raise a formal complaint from the local government to the state government about the draining of the water”, and “Who were those spreading false information about the circumstances of the disappearance of Major General I.M. Alkali and what were their motives”.

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki commended Senator Hassan for the motion and urged the security agencies to intensify their efforts in finding the retired Army officer and other missing Nigerians.

  • UNDP Human Devt. Index: Obaseki targets best-performer status for Edo

    The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has said that the ongoing reforms in education and health sectors would put Edo in the league of the best performing states in subsequent human Development Indices of the United Nations Development Programme.

    Obaseki gave the assurance in Benin City, the Edo State capital, following the release of the UNDP HDI Report 2018, on Friday, using year 2016 performance in: Access to decent living; access to knowledge and health.

    Edo State was ranked 12th by the UNDP  2016 Report with a value of 0.5299, followed by Imo, Osun, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ondo, Anambra, Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Oyo, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Kaduna, Gombe, Niger, Kebbi, Jigawa and Kano states.

    The top performers, according to the report, are Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Ekiti states.

    Obaseki said: “The National Human Development Index released by the United Nations Development Programme which placed Edo State in the 12th position, is an eye opener but our target is to be the best-performing state using the criteria set by the UNDP.

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    “It is instructive to mention that the performances used were those of 2016 and we have since scaled up our activities in education and health sectors to earn us the top spot. We are ready to unveil 7000 digital primary school teachers soon, to transform the way teaching is conducted in our basic education sector.

    “We have commenced the construction of primary health centres across the state to take healthcare to the door steps of our people, no matter how remote their locations are.”

    The governor added: “It is our hope that all these efforts would be captured in subsequent UNDP Human Development Indices to reflect Edo State’s current standing among the comity of states in the country.”

    According to media analysis of the report, with a value of 0.6515, Lagos outperformed all the other states. It also retained the title as it had placed first in the 2013 HDI with a value of 0.6716.

    “The FCT ranked second with a value of 0.6289. It jumped six places as it had placed seventh in the 2013 HDI, with a value of 0.5112.

    “With a value of 0.5909, Bayelsa placed third, stepping a place down from the second place it occupied in 2013, with a value of 0.621.

    “Akwa Ibom ranked fourth with a value of 0.5641. The state retained its placement as it had also occupied the fourth position in the previous index, with a value of 0.5698.

    “Ekiti, occupying the fifth position with a value 0.5608, was one of the highest performers in terms of ranking, as it moved 11 places by jumping from the 16th position it occupied in 2013 to the fifth in the latest ranking.

    “Sokoto, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe and Zamfara states are at the bottom of the National Human Development Index, according to the National Human Development Report 2018 released by the United Nations Development Programme.”

    The UNDP explained that HDI represents a geometric average of normalised indices for each of the three dimensions of health, knowledge and standard of living.

  • Plateau, metaphor of elite re-colonisation

    SIR: The Plateau pond of blood is a sad metaphor of the huge pond of blood that has become the reality of our national life. Nigeria has become a huge island; not of water but an island of ponds of blood. The Plateau ponds dotting the landscape of Plateau State, were of course, not created by the natives. The Plateau natives, just like all other natives, were historically, victims, whose fates have undergone a strange phenomenal metamorphosis from victimhood to culprit-hood (permit the diction) on account of elite manipulations into fighting proxy wars.

    The history of Plateau ponds is a history of British foreign expansionism euphemistically dubbed, “colonization” of Nigeria; an expansionism not driven by any values of humanity but bed-rocked solely on the greedy quest for exploitation of the nation abounding natural resources. One of such resource exploitation, of the many natural endowments buried deep in the bowel of nation’s famous Plateau, gave birth to the many ponds dotting the landscape of Plateau State. The yawning mine pits negligently left behind by the exploitative mining activities of the colonial days now serve other unintended purposes.

    Many may not be aware that the beginning of colonial government exploitation of the country’s natural resources was also the beginning of the history of blood; of wanton deaths by preventable accidents at the mines; of many more deaths of natives by outright murder resulting from local resistance of the colonial inhumanity; and worse, the beginning of seed of death sprouting from the very many fractured legacies of oppression and exclusion, the two mortal inheritances  left behind by the colonial masters for  successive servants-turned elites in the wake of the Nigerian  Independence.

    The successive servant-elites of the colonial masters have successfully lived up to their calling of advancing the cause of their inherited legacies; the cause of oppression, of exploitation and exclusionism, nurtured by bloodletting and sustained even by more blood of the innocent, whose nomenclatures change with the change of baton of power. With the colonial masters, they bore the nomenclatural identity of natives. Now, with the elites in control, comes another change of identity to the “locals”. The resources are no longer limited to the natural endowment. The elite scramble for partition is now done on the sharing table of political intrigues.

    The ensuing elite fight from their conflicting interests in the scramble for partition of the national resources is what has now morphed into, and dressed up, as tribal, ethnic, clannish and religious agitations bedeviling the nation, resulting in the very many ponds of blood dotting the nation’s landscape.

    Unknown to the uninitiated, at every point in time when a particular elite suffers a lopsided balance in the share of the national spoils, his or their interests, depending on whether they are in group, automatically morph into a collective interests of the tribe, ethnicity or religion, and dressed up as such. The elite interests dressed up as such assumes a proxy status requiring only but an ethnic or religious indoctrination for easy recruitment of the wretched of the earth (made so by the elites) to engage in the corollary proxy war.

    Such is the circumstance of the Berom natives, and indeed many natives of other ethnic nationalities, adherent of religious convictions, associates of political opinions and ideologies, and even members of professional interest groups, who, despite being kept in pitiable oppressive exclusion yet unconsciously and unsuspectingly, fighting the proxy wars of their respective elites.

    Today, the Berom natives and indeed, all other “natives” of either religion or politics, are in a rather complex labyrinth of culpatory narratives woven against them for fighting the  proxy war of the elites; the war that has neither a permanent victory nor defeat, but permanent selfish interests of their respective elites. Would the discovery of the Plateau pond of blood be the beginning of the dismantling the all-pervasive smoldering furnace of hate stoke by the elite? Only time will tell.

     

    • Chris Edache Agbiti, Esq.,

      Abuja.

  • Senate: Dimka, former CP, picks Plateau Central APC ticket

    Mr Hezekiah Dimka, a retired Commissioner of Police, on Thursday picked the APC ticket to contest the Plateau Central Senatorial seat in 2019.

    In the party’s primary election held in Pankshin, Dimka scored 1,306 votes to beat three others for the ticket.

    Dimka is seeking to replace Sen. Joshua Dariye, former Plateau governor, who is currently serving a 14-year jail term at the Kuje Prison.

    Further details of the results as announced by Demua Leedee-Demue, the electoral officer, showed that Diket Plang, Sam Piwuna and Manji Gontori scored 450, 68 and 46 votes respectively.

    In other primary elections, two PDP members of the House of Representatives – Solomon Maren and Timothy Golu – won their tickets to seek fresh tenures.

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    Maren represents Mangu/Bokkos Federal Constituency, while Golu represents Kanam/Kanke/Pankshin.

    In the results announced Thursday morning, Maren polled 98 votes to beat Dr. Umar Mantu, who got 94 votes.

    Mr Jelka Danlami got 92 votes, while Nanbam Jacob-Lot got six votes.

    Golu, on his part, garnered 278 votes to defeat Danjuma Usman and Suleiman Hanssi, who got 51 and 27 votes respectively.

  • 25 killed in fresh Plateau attacks

    Jos, the Plateau State capital, was enveloped by tension yesterday following the alleged killing of 15 people, including a family of nine, at the Rukuba area of the city by unknown gunmen.

    Ten other people were feared killed during   protests that erupted after residents got wind of the Rukuba killings and took to the streets to vent their anger.

    The state government responded with the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew  in  Jos North and Jos South local government areas  to forestall  further mayhem.

    The Nation gathered that unknown gunmen dressed in black stormed a house on Rukuba Road, Jos North local government area late Thursday,killing  13 residents.

    Two were left injured but later died in the hospital.

    Nine of the victims are said to be members of a family.

    Only the family head managed to escape, according to sources.

    News of the attack soon spread round the city and sparked pandemonium with parents rushing to pick their children in schools.

    Traders also shut their shops to prevent looting.

    Other people ran for their lives.

    Protests also erupted in parts of the city.

    The protests soon began to get out of hand as some people tried to catch in on the situation to attack innocent people and to loot.

    Two such suspects were allegedly gunned down by security agents at Tina Junction in Jos North when they attacked innocent road users.

    The police confirmed the Thursday attack.

    Spokesman for the state police command,Terna Tyopev said: “On 27/09/2018 being Thursday at about 2205hrs, the Plateau State Police Command Control Room in Jos received a distress call to the effect that there were sporadic gunshots at Rukuba Road, opposite Kowa Hotel, Jos. The command after receiving the report mobilised patrol teams immediately to the scene of crime.

    ”The unknown gunmen who took advantage of the ongoing rain in the area to attack residents were forced to run from the scene by the combined superior gun fire of the Police and the Operation Safe Haven (STF).

    ”Some people who reside close to the hills were rescued while some persons lost their lives as a result of the attack and some others sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, and are currently receiving treatment.

    ”The combined security is out to contain the situation in Jos. As such, members of the public are to remain calm and law-abiding. Meanwhile, patrol of the area is being intensified and investigation in the crime has commenced.”

    The police did not say how many people died.

    A human rights activist, Dashe Joshua, however, slammed the security agencies for their inability to prevent the killings.

    His words: “The security agencies have completely failed in their primary responsibility.

    “How can gunmen penetrate the city and perpetrate such crime? This is unbelievable.

    “Why   is government failing on a daily basis to protect its citizens?

    “When this type of killings happened in the remote villages, the security agencies would  tell you they can’t be everywhere in the villages, but now this is happening in the state capital.

    “What is the excuse of the security agencies this time around?”

    Reacting to the pandemonium and the protests, the state government yesterday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the state capital.

    The acting Secretary to State Government, Mr. Richard Tokman, said in a statement that: “Sequel to security breach in some parts of Jos North, the governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong, has approved the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Jos North and Jos South local government areas with immediate effect.

    “However, while ensuring the safety of lives and property of the populace, citizens are advised to exercise restraint and to remain calm and report any suspicious movement to the law enforcement agencies.”

    In a separate statement, Information Commissioner Yakubu Dati commiserated with bereaved  families.

    He said: “The attention of the Plateau State Government has been drawn to an attack along Rukuba Road in the early hours of Friday morning. The unfortunate action is generating tension in Jos, the state capital.

     

  • Gunmen attack Jos metropolis, wipe out family of nine

    Unidentified gunmen have allegedly killed family of nine in Rukuba road community of Jos North Local Government Area, a development that sparked up tension in the community and other parts of Jos metropolis.

    A resident of the area, who prefers anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria, that the gunmen attacked the community on Thursday night.

    “Last night, some gunmen invaded this area shooting sporadically and in the cause wiped out nine members of a family

    “I cannot tentatively say what caused the ugly incident but I heard some gunshots and some persons were also injured,” he said.

    DSP Terna Tyopev, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Plateau Police Command confirmed the incident to News Agency Of Nigeria.

    The PPRO, who could not confirm the accurate number of deaths, said that lives were lost, while many others were severely injured.

    He explained that the assailants took advantage of the night rains to perpetrate the “evil” act.

    Read Also: Tension mounts in Jos

    “Yesterday at about 10.p.m, our Plateau Control Room received a distress call that there were sporadic gunshots at Rukuba Road, a community opposite Kowa Hotel, Jos.

    “We immediately mobilized our patrol team to the scene of crime”.

    “The gunmen, who took advantage of the night rains to attack residents, were later chased away from the area by the combined team of the Police and men Operation Safe Haven (STF), a military task force.

    “Some people were rescued while some persons lost their lives as a result of the attack and others sustained injuries of various degrees,” he said.

    Tyopev said the injured were rushed to Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, where they are receiving treatment.

    The PPRO said a combined team of security personnel had been dispatched to flash points to avert breakdown of law and order, and urged members of the public to remain calm and law abiding.

    He said investigation to unravel those behind the crime has commenced.

  • Lalong signs law to end transfer of suspects to Abuja for trial

    Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau on Tuesday signed the Administration of Criminal Justice bill into law, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.
    The law, among other provisions, has put to a stop, the constant transfer of criminal suspects to Abuja for trial.
    The governor, in a brief remark after signing the bill into law, said that it would reinforce the framework for the effective prosecution of criminal cases in the state.
    “We have often had cases of people suspected of committing crimes in Plateau, moved to Abuja for trial. That has ended from today,” he said.
    NAN reports that the bill was among the three endorsed by the Plateau chief executive.
    Others included the Plateau State Information and Communication Technology Development Agency Law, 2017, and the Penal Code of Plateau State, 2018.
    Lalong expressed confidence that the laws would ensure quick dispensation of justice in the state.
    He commended the efforts of the three arms of government –  executive, legislature and the judiciary – that ensured the speedy passage of the bill into law.
    The signing of the bills into law was witnessed by Mr Joshua Madaki, Speaker, Plateau House of Assembly, and Justice Yakubu Dakwak, Chief Judge of the state. (NAN)

  • Plateau: Buratai charges troops to be aggressive against bandits

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has charged troops of `Operation Safe Haven’ to be aggressive and decisive in dealing with armed bandits and other criminal elements operating on the Plateau.

    Buratai said a situation whereby innocent citizens were waylaid, abducted and killed indiscriminately should no longer be tolerated.

    He gave the charge at a demonstration by the Special Forces newly inducted into the operation at Riyom Local Government Area of the state.

    “The Operation Safe Haven should not remain in deterrent position, but you must also be aggressive and deal with any criminal activities, especially those that are bent on disturbing the peace, killing and maiming people.

    “You are not here to protect any ethnic or religious group; we are dealing with criminals, we are interested in criminal elements and they must be deal with decisively,’’ Buratai said.

    He, however, charged them to be professional, but combat ready at all times, noting that serious challenge still remains in the state in terms of the security.

    The army chief said that the killings were still ongoing in the hinterland and other areas and directed the troops to penetrate those areas and clear the “doubt of the criminal elements.’’

    “You are deployed here not to romance the criminals; you are to deal with them decisively; anybody seen carrying arms must be dealt with decisively.

    “If you give them chance, then we will all regret it. Therefore, we cannot afford to give them chance.

    “You are very much aware of what is happening, people are waylaid on the roads, abducted and kept where it is very difficult to locate them and sometimes, they get them killed. This is unacceptable,’’ he said.

  • Rustlers kill two herders in Plateau

    •Police recover 70 cows

    Plateau State Police Command has confirmed the killing of herdsmen by suspected rustlers.

    They reportedly attacked victims while grazing their cattle in the bush around Turu village of Jos South Local government.

    The incident, according to the police, occurred last Friday at about 1915 hours.

    A statement by the Police Public Relation Officer, DSP Terna Tyopev, explained: “On the 14/09/2018 at about 1915hrs, Ezekiel Dalyop of Turu village in Kuru District of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State reported at the Kaduna Vom Police Division three (3) herders entrusted with Seventy (70) of his cattle were missing.

    “The Police swung into action immediately the complaint was incidented and were able to rescue one of the herders by name Bitrus Joseph 16yrs unhurt.

    “The police team of detectives also recovered the seventy (70) missing cattle.

    “Unfortunately, in the process of rustling the cattle, two of the herders Meshack Dalyop 14 and Pam Danjuma 10 were killed and dumped in the bush at Dahool Bob in Kuru District.

    “The corpses have been recovered and deposited at the Vom Christian Hospital.”