Plateau state government has announced the death of eight persons resulting from an explosion of Chlorine Cylinder in Jos, the state capital.
Government also said over 100 affected persons were rushed to hospital after inhaling the poisonous Chlorine gas from the explosion.
The explosion occurred at the site of the state government water treatment plant at the Lamingo water Dam.
A statement issued in Jos on Saturday by the director of press and public affairs to Governor Lalong, Samuel Nanle stated that, “There was an excess Chlorine inhalation from an exploded Chlorine Cylinder by residents around the Lamingo Water Board Treatment Plant.
“As a result of which 101 (One hundred and one) people were affected and are receiving treatment at OLA Hospital, Evangel Hospital (Jankwano), Plateau Specialist Hospital and Airforce Hospital.
“Some of the victims on hospital admission have been discharged
“A total of 8 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the inhalation of the contaminated air” Nanle stated.
The statement also said, “The contamination has been contained and does not affect the water which has been supplied to Public Mains; water from the public mains is safe for consumption and is not affected in anyway by the Arial contamination of Chlorine from the exploded cylinder.
“Government wishes to commiserate with the families of the victims of this industrial hazard and has taken immediate measures to address the issues of expired components of the Treatment Plant and to guard against future reoccurrence of this unfortunate incidence.”
Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has been accused of taking actions capable of provoking political conflict in the state.
The accusation followed the suspension of the local government chairmen by the governor and his alleged refusal to respect the court injunction restraining him and the House of Assembly from tampering with the tenure of elected council chairmen.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Association of Local Government Chairmen (ALGON) staged a peaceful protest in Jos on the matter.
The police commissioner, Nasiru Oki, addressed the protesters behind close door for an hour. They included the local government chairmen, state zonal vice chairman of PDP (central zone) Hon. Yusuf Ishaya and the legal adviser of PDP, Bitrus Gyang.
Ishaya, who represented the party chairman, Raymond Dabo, said: “The party has to lead the council chairmen to see the commissioner of Police because of the actions of the state governor in recent times”
“I am here to represent the state chairman of PDP in this struggle along with all the ALGON members to intimate the state police commissioner on the actions of the state governor who have chosen to disobeyed the law, disrespect court order and ridicule the entire judiciary.
He added: “The governor announced the suspension of elected local government executives without genuine reasons, and when the council chairmen went to court to seek justice, the court ordered that status quo remains pending the determination of the case.
When a mosque was bombed in Jos, Plateau State, followed 10 minutes later by another attack on a restaurant frequented by Muslims, the apparent plan was to set Islamic adherents against their Christian counterparts. The people did not fall for it, thanks to the timely intervention of leaders. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports
This time, reason prevailed. In the past, 2010, 2011 and 2013 being examples, each time a mosque or church was hit, revenge quickly followed in kind. In a very short time, full scale war broke, tearing the once peaceful state apart.
Penultimate Sunday, it looked as though Plateau State was treading the old, ugly path one again. Between 9pm and 10pm, a mosque where one of the most revered Muslim clerics in the state was giving a sermon was torn apart by an explosion. About 10 minutes later, an eatery favoured by Muslims also came under attack. Some 51 souls were lost in the attacks. Before midnight two churches were torched by people believed to have risen in defence of their faith. Going by recent history, a war between adherents of the two most popular religions would have broken out, wreaking the same havoc such violence often did.
•Senator Useni (left) with leaders of Cherubim and Sheraphim after inspecting the damage to the church
The war plot failed. Governor Simon Lalong told the people that terrorists were at work and that body should be calm. Senator Jeremiah Useni was on the same mission, visiting the popular preacher Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingre and making similar appeals.
It worked.
The governor, the retired general and the sheikh were not the only heroes of the latest attacks. A bodyguard of Sheikh Yahaya reached for the attacker, seeking to stop him in his tracks. He died alongside the bomber but not before preventing more casualties that was really the case.
The death toll of the twin bomb attack stood at 51 at press time, but as high as the figure is, the man at the centre of the attack on Yan Taya Mosque, Dilimi Jos, Sheikh Yahaya said Nigerians should thank God that the number of the dead was limited to 51 and not possibly 500. The revered Islamic scholar is also appreciative of the fact that the attack did not lead to a religious violence in the state as planned by the attackers.
Knowing the volatile nature of Jos and how such attack on worshippers could spark off religious violence, Governor Lalong issued a press statement through his director of press Samuel Nanle, appealing to citizens to remain calm and maintain the peace.
The appeal became so necessary in view of the fact that some youths in the state had begun to take action to provoke a religious violence. Soon after the bomb blast at the Mosque in Dilimi by 9:30pm that Sunday night, some angry youths descended on two churches close to the mosque and razed them down. Those churches are Cherubim and Seraphim Church, off Dilimi Street, just behind the mosque, and The First African Mission Church Incorporated, St. Michael Parish, located on the same street as the attacked mosque.
The attack on the churches took place before dawn, but that same morning, on the governors directive, the military check points that were removed earlier were quickly restored, security agencies were deployed to sensitive areas of the city to prevent a breakdown of law and order. The governor followed that with a press statement appealing to citizens. And, as if that was not enough, Lalong visited the scene where he addressed the Muslim community, asking them to remain calm and promising to use his office to nab those behind the attacks. The governor also visited the various hospitals to appeal to parents and relations of the victims.
But in order not to allow the efforts of the governor to lose steam, the Senator representing Plateau South Senatorial Zone, Senator Useni followed up with a peace advocacy visit to further cement what Governor Lalong has started. The senator first visited the Islamic cleric, Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingre at his Jos residence to begin his peace advocate, saying, “I’m here to express my sympathy with you over the attack on your people; you have lost a good number of your followers and I know how painful that can be. However, you are not the only one in this pain, the entire state shares in the pain of this attack.
“For every life in the state to be terminated in this manner, it is an issue of concern to everyone, I feel terribly bad on hearing of the attack. I won’t say because I am not the senator from this zone I don’t feel concern, I do, and that is why I decided to pay you my sympathy visit and also visit the scene of attacks as well as victims in the hospitals.
“It is my prayer that may the souls of the deceased rest in peace, and may God safeguard those of us that are mourning the dead at the moment. I’m also pleading with you to continued to talk to your followers not to think of any form of reprisal over the attack because we are dealing with the enemies we don’t even know, so even if we think of revenge we might be targeting the innocent ones that have no hand in the attack. I am appealing to all Muslim ummah in Plateau state to forgive and forget for us to co-exist peacefully in this state and in the country.
“I’m so confident that if we all exercise patience with one another, the issue of insurgency and Boko haram will soon become a thing of the past because the government of President Buhari is working hard to tackle the issue of insecurity in the country once and for all, we should have confidence in him, we should support him to succeed,” said Senator Useni.
The Senator moved from that point to visit the attacked mosque and church leaders whose worship places were razed down by angry mob. At the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Dilimi, he met the church leaders who took him round the remains of the church building. After the inspection, the Senator said, “From what I see here, It is unthinkable for somebody to attack a church because somebody from nowhere attacked a mosque. The church is innocent in this case; the church has not launched attack on any mosque. This is a clear case of transferred aggression, people should be able to control their anger when something happens to them. But that is why I am here to sympathise with you and plead that we should forgive and forget all that happened, you have to forgive these people because they don’t know what they are doing. We should follow the teaching of the bible that teaches us to leave vengeance to God. So, the church leaders should find a way to rebuild the church and I am ready to assist the church in whatever way I can to fix them back” said Senator Useni.
The Senator moved to the next church to preach the same message of peace and forgiveness. He appealed to the church leader to forgive while promising to assist them in rebuilding the church.
No doubt, the message of Senator Useni was like a balm on pains, the religious leaders promised to respect him as a peace maker. Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingre not only agreed to tow the line of peace but also reveal how he has been able to calm his followers thus, “I want to thank Allah for what had happened because I know very well that whatever that happened to a believer, be it negative or positive, cannot succeed unless with the approval of Allah. I have to thank Allah because if the attackers had succeeded, they would have killed as much as 500 Muslims that night. Because the people that gathered to listen to me that night were more than half a million Muslims.
•Another church destroyed after the attack on a mosque
He said, “One of the attackers was aiming at me, but one of my personal guard took a risk with his own life to safe hundreds of others. As the bomber was trying to penetrate where I was seated, my aid went courageously and grabbed the bomber together with the bomb, the bomb went off immediately and shattered the bomber and the brave boy together. The boy used his own life to safe hundreds of other lives. If not for his adventure, the death from that attacks would have been more than 500. At the end we recorded 24 deaths in the mosque.
“Then soon after that the gunmen stormed the restaurants where our people were taking their dinner and detonated another bomb there, we lost 19 people there. Some of the victims of the restaurant attack are Christians, some are travelers, they were just eating.
Cholera has been an annual blight, sometimes afflicting the state three times in one year. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports on the cost of this year’s outbreak in Plateau State
It is a seven-letter disease which residents of Plateau State dread probably as much as Nigerians feared the Ebola virus. In panic, many evade handshakes. They no longer buy fruits the way they used to, and are more careful these days where to dine and even what sachet water to drink. Except it is absolutely necessary, hospitals are also avoided.
•A cholera patient on hospital bed
You cannot blame Plateau residents. Cholera, said to be caused by unhealthy water and unhygienic environments, has struck in every of the last eight years, sometimes thrice in one year. The cost is dire: many lives are lost.
The last two weeks have been terrible, as the plague has been ravaging several parts of the state, including the capital, Jos. That of Langtang North has claimed at least 15 lives. A team of WHO and UNICEF personnel fought hard to contain the outbreak in Jos.
Last year, the state battled the disease more than three times in about five local governments especially Quan Pan, Shendam, Mikang, Jos South, Barkin Ladi as well as Jos North local government areas.
The cases were triggered by overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and lack of potable drinking water, among other factors. That year, the state government mounted a vigorous public enlightenment campaign to sensitize citizens on preventive measures and what to do in an epidemic situation. But, in spite of that the state continued to witness cases of cholera.
No fewer than 15 persons have died from the disease in the latest outbreak, while several others were hospitalized, some in critical condition.
The outbreak occurred in Langtang North Local Government Area of the state particularly in Kantam and Filam villages of Langtang North council.
The news of the outbreak was broken by the member representing Langtang North in the state House of Assembly Hon. Godfrey Lamdip when he raised it on the floor as an issue of urgent public importance.
The lawmaker said, “The cholera outbreak in the local government…has killed at least fifteen people so far with several other victims hospitalised. I have to bring the issue before the House of Assembly so that prompt action can be taken to save lives because several members of these communities are already migrating to neighboring local governments which can even lead to the spread of the epidemic.”
With this alarm, members of the House from neighbouring councils were also not comfortable. They said their communities might also be affected if nothing was done to halt the spread.
After much deliberation on the incident, the House mandated its health committee to liaise with the state ministry of health and ensure prompt action to stop the spread.
The prompt action actually followed, in a matter of days, the spread was contained. Those on hospital admission, over 50 of them, were treated and discharged. Dr. Raymond Jurit, the state Epidemologist, who led the team of medical experts to Langtang North said, “We immediately dispatched medical team to the communities and we thought them how to handled the victims. The medical team did their best to manage the cases and reduced the level of casualties.
“We have taken samples of the stool and vomits and we are already testing them in our laboratory. We do so to ascertain what the situation is. For now we are only suspecting it is a case of cholera, but one is not sure until we see it in the laboratory test we are currently conducting. But then, from the symptom, it is obvious it is a case of cholera but it has to be scientifically certified before we declare it so.
“But in all efforts, I must commend the contribution of Chairman, Langtang North Local Government, Hon Dan Dul. Since the case was discovered, he never went to his office, he was always on ground with the medical team and really assisted the medical team in the management of the cases,” said Dr. Jurit.
•A boy in hospital, with the disease
On the risk factors leading to the outbreak of the disease, the Epidemologist said, “We went there to discover that the communities have no good drinking water; their water source is just not good for human consumption. That was what caused their own cases. But we have recommended that something has to be done fast to solve the water needs of those communities, if not, all the efforts of the medical team in containing the cases would be in vain, that will be bad enough, so the state government and the local government have promised to address that as soon as possible”
Asked why such cases of cholera are becoming too frequent in the state, the epidemiology said, “You know, Cholera is a water born disease, so where there is scarcity of water, there is a risk factor already. Another thing is personal hygiene, a lot of citizens don’t heed our warming and sensitization campaigns, coupled with our low level of ignorance. In most of the villages, people defecate in the open, most of them defecate close to their houses, all these are risk factors.
At the moment, apart from Langtang North, some cases has been reported in Jos North and Jos South, but they are not as serious as that of Langtang North. But in Jos, you will relished that the recent strike by labor union contributed to the outbreak. During the strike, there was no distribution of treated water, so citizens went for other sources of drinking water most of which are not from hygienic sources. But now that workers have resumed work, we are not going to have new cases of the outbreak again.
“In that of Jos North, we are working hand in hand with UNICEF and WHO, so we promptly contained that and there is no more case in Jos North. But generally if the genera public will heed to all precautionary measure we tell them through our public enlightenment program, them we will not have problem. We told people to watch their hands regularly and properly is as simple as that” said Dr. Jurit.
Few weeks ago when refuse were left to decompose on the streets of Jos as a result of workers strike, it was feared that cholera may break out any moment. So far, four people have died in Joss city with vomiting and stoking suspected to be cholera. If not for the intervention by UNICEF and WHO, the outbreak in Jos May have claimed hundreds of lives in a very short period.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Langtang North local government, Hon Dan Dul has declared weekly sanitation exercise for the next one month to ensure every community is kept clean. The state government has also intensified public enlightenment campaign using the state media.
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau, on Monday dissolved the 17 Local Government Councils in the state.
A statement issued in Jos by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Rufus Bature, said that the dissolution was in exercise of the powers conferred on the governor by the Constitution.
It directed the local council chairmen, councilors and other political appointees to handover all government property in their care to Directors of Personnel Management (DPM) in the councils.
It would be recalled that the local government chairmen and councilors were elected into office in February 2014.
“The governor directs all dissolved chairmen of councils; all members of the executive arm, councilors and other political appointees to hand over all government properties in their possession to directors of personnel management.
“Security operatives in the various local governments and particularly the Divisional Police Officers and members of the various labour unions are to ensure that all government properties are secured in the custody of the DPMs,” it said.
The statement further said that the governor has approved the appointment of Mrs. Hulda Fwangchi as the new Head of Service of the State to replace Mr Ezekiel Dalyop.
Until her appointment, Mrs. Fwangchi was a Permanent Secretary with the Plateau Government.
Lalong, according to the statement, thanked members of the dissolved councils and the former head of service for their selfless services and wished them well in their future endeavours.
It added that the governor assured them that their wealth of experience would be relied upon from time to time in the course of governing the state.
One after another, police dragnet is pulling in suspected criminals as long-suffering residents applaud, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU
Some now in police custody are thought to be armed robbers, some rapists, murderers, and there are more.
How did Plateau State, once loved for its serenity, scenic beauty and temperate weather, end up a haven for felons? It is a question residents often ask without getting any answers.
In broad daylight as well as night, car owners are conscious that their vehicles could be snatched by gun-toting thieves, and their fears often come true. At home, power generators are also stolen. That is not all. Rapists, murders and a variety of other rogues are also about, making residents jumpy most of the time.
There is also the ubiquitous presence of military personnel, not really for these crimes, but for such more alarming cases as terrorism and communal clashes. Yet, the other lesser criminals find enough room to strike.
The good news is that security agencies seem to have figured out how to keep the felons out of business. A good number of the suspects have been arrested and are being questioned by police. When they were paraded, and what a large hurl, the people expressed their joy and relief by applauding the law enforcement agents.
The state police commissioner, Nasiru Oki was celebrated for the catch, even though nothing is certain yet regarding the guilt of the accused, as they have not been charged to court.
•He is accused of concealing a machete
The criminals paraded by the police commissioner at the command headquarters at Joseph Gomwalk Way Jos, were up to 30. But the interesting aspect of the event was not the number of the suspects but the nature of the crime they were thought to have committed.
One of the suspects was a 75-year-old grandfather who reportedly raped his own granddaughters and their friends. The old man was said to be having an affair with his two granddaughters, a development that was said to have lasted without other members of the family knowing about it. He accused was also said to have deflowered the two girls.
The police gave the name of the old man as Mr Umoru Choji who lived in Zawan village in Jos South Local Government Area of the state. He was discovered when the some teenagers from the other families reported the affair to the girls’ parents. The parents in turn reported it to ‘B’ Division Police Station in Bukuru and he was promptly picked up by the police.
The man reportedly owned up to the crime. One of the two granddaughters he allegedly deflowered is 11 years old, the other 14.
Another man, Monday Pam, also paraded by the police, was alleged to have killed another man over a girlfriend. The girlfriend, Magdalene Fidelis, a widow, was dating the two men at the same time. Pam rented an apartment for her where she lived with her three children. But another she loved was also coming to spend some time with her in the apartment.
Pam said, “The woman is my girlfriend, but I know another man was also dating [her], so I warned the man several times but [he] ignored my warnings. So the last time we met in the house of my girlfriend, I challenged him and it resulted in a fight; the man wanted to kill me, so I pulled out my knife and stabbed him.”
The widow at the centre of the conflict, said, “I am a widow with three children; this man Monday Pam is my boyfriend, he even rented the house for me, so when he came across this man in my house, they started fighting and I drove them [out of] my house, so they went to the road and fought that night. I did not know that my boyfriend killed the other man until the police came and arrest me.”
Pam, who is in police custody alongside the widow, has a wife and children. The police gave the name of the dead lover as Christopher Vincent. Both Monday Pam and his girlfriend Magdalene Fidelis will be charged to court for conspiracy and culpable homicide, the police said.
In a similar case, three young men in Josho Daho village of Bokkos Local Government, Plateau state, went to a night party. One of them, Mr. Anjum Morem noticed his wife Asabe Anjum in a passionate romance with another man. Mr. Moren quickly elected his other two friends of the situation and three of them engage the man romancing his wifeliness a fit-scuff. In the fight that ensued, the man said to be romancing Mr. Morgen’ wife, Yakubu Patrick was stabbed to death right there. Mr. More claimed he had several times warned the deceased Yakubu
Patric to steer clear of his wife. The three young men are already in police net for the crime and they are about to be charged to court for conspiracy and culpable homicide.
Another interesting aspect of the criminals on parade is the case of a young man who ride on commercial motorcycle in Jos metropolise with a machete stripped to his back. The purpose of the machete was to attack any security agency that tried to arrest them knowing fully well that commercial motorcycle has been outlawn in a Jos city since 2012.
According to the police commissioner, “These boys knows they are committing crime against the state for ridding commercial motorcycle. So they armed to attack any any law enforcement officer that tried to arrested them. They have done that to several police men. But this one was not lucky, as he tried to pull the machete from his shirt as usual, he was over powered by the police and was arrested” the police boss said they are still looking out to arrest these gang of criminals and very soon, we will get some others if they continued to break the laws.
There is also a case of witchcraft, in this case, an elderly man called Yakubu Kwon Sanga, poured some quantity of Kerosine on one Nancy Dauda, an eight year old girl on the suspicion that the girl was a witch. He lured the girl into his room and tried to interrogate the little girl. But all of a sudden, the man poured kerosine on the girl, got a matches and set the girl on fire, or course, the girl was severely burnt and eventually died. The suspect was eventually arrested by the police.
The regular crime in the state is that of armed robbery. In Old Legislative Quaters in Jos city, one Stephen Musa went with a gun to rub at the residence of one Tokumbo Adewoye in the middle of the night. The suspect forced himself into the apartment and demanded for money at gun point. But the owner of the house was bold enough to grab the suspect while pretending to handover to the robber some money, Mr Adewoye overpowered the robber and alerted his neighbors. The suspect was immediately handed over to the police patrol team.
In Quan Pan local government of the state, two suspected armed robbers attacked Mr. Wilfred Mankut in his house while he was sleeping, he was robbed of his cash and other valuable items. The robbers esced with their lots, but the police continued to trail him through diligent investigation and eventually apprehended him.
It was a miracle for another woman who was attacked by armed robber at her residence along Bukuru express in Jos city. The suspects robber who is now in police net came to the house in a broad day light and told the woman that her husband directed him to come and carry out some electrical work on the house. But the woman suspected the electrician and refused the electrician to carry out any work in the house. The fake electrician then requested for a water to drink. As the woman headed towards the kitchen to bring the water, the fake electrician followed the woman up and pulled out a gun, he immediately ordered the woman to surrender all her money, handsets and other valuables. But instead of responding to the demands made on her at gunpoint, the woman pounced on the robber and eventually dispossessed the robber of the gun, she screamed heavily and neighbors came to her help to apprehend the robber and handed her over to the police.
Correspondent YUSUFU IDEGU examines the challenges before the new All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Plateau State and how Governor Simon Lalong intends to tackle them.
For almost a decade, Plateau State has not known peace. Thus, elections in the state have always been rough. When the All Progressive Congress (APC) was introduced to states across the country, it was laughable to predict that the relatively unknown political party will form the government in a state like Plateau. Even soothsayers were not ready to stake a fortune on this. As a matter of fact, no one gave the ruling party a chance; it was unthinkable that the new party will form the government in the state two years after it was formed.
“The APC came to Plateau like a notorious armed robber to snatch the state out of the grips of the PDP,” said a political analyst, Mr. Cletus Matawal. “Plateau State has been in the firm grips of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 1999. Until April 11, 2015, the PDP had made it difficult for any party to make inroads into Plateau political terrain.” When the APC was introduced into Plateau during the build- up to the general elections, many were reluctant to join the party. One of the founding fathers of the party, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, said: “A lot of our people never gave the party a chance when we started. During the state congresses of the party for the election of its state officials, I was begging people to come and contest.” However, the rejected party has become the ruling party at the federal and the state level, to the consternation of many PDP chieftains.
Also, the emergence of Simon Lalong as the governor was a surprise. However, the emergence of Lalong as the governor on the platform of the APC signified three major political realities in Plateau State: The emergence of two main political blocs led by Senator Joshua Dariye and Senator Jonah Jonah. When Dariye was governor, Jang was the leader of the opposition that made Dariye uncomfortable in Government House for eight years, with his style of opposition.
When Jang emerged as the governor in 2007, he pushed Dariye out of the PDP. Jang also made futile attempts to probe Dariye. During the rivalry, Dariye defected to the Labour Party (LP) and became a senator in 2011. In the build- up to the 2015 governorship election, Dariye led the crusade for the defeat of the Jang- anointed governorship candidate, Senator Gyang Pwajok of the PDP. Efforts by Dariye and other opposition politicians paved the way for the emergence of Lalong as the governor. The emergence of the APC-led government also means that Jang has been pushed back into the opposition again as he was in 1999.
Lalong was the Speaker of the Plateau State House of assembly when Dariye was the governor between 1999-2007 and they never fell apart since then. The government of Lalong is therefore seen as the return of Dariye government. So, political developments in the state have been a rotation of power between the Dariye camp and the Jang political camp.
Jang had the opportunity of becoming the political godfather. He, however, abused the opportunity by refusing to implement the zoning agreement. He insisted on handing over power to his Berom kinsman, Senator Pwajok. With that single attempt, Jang lost grip of the state and paved the way for the APC to take over power. With this political development, Plateau is today without a formidable political leader as it was when its first civilian governor, late Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, was alive. Lar was the political icon who was a rallying point. But, since his demise, the vacuum created created by his absence has not been filled. It was widely expected that Jang will step into the shoes of the late Lar. But, it’s now obvious that the shoes are too big for him. So, the state now revolves between two political figures; Dariye and Jang.
Dariye has an overwhelming influence on the government of Lalong. This has prompted the return of all former commissioners and special advisers who served in Dariye administration; they are now surrounding the new governor as political jobbers.
Gov Lalong has many challenges to tackle. One of the challenges is restoring unity. The state with its multi-lingual and multi-ethnic disposition need to do more to unite the people. The diversity of the people obviously played out during the build-up to the 2015 general elections. The three geo-political zones of the state made claims to the number one seat in the state. The original zoning arrangement ended with the tenure of Jonah Jang. It started in 1979 with the late Chief Solomon Lar and Sir Fidelis Tapgun from Plateau South. After that, Plateau Central had their turn during Dariye’s tenure. The final slot was that of Jonah Jang, which represented the turn of Plateau North.
So, if the zoning arrangement was to commence again, the slot rightly belonged to Plateau South. But, the three zones were fighting over the governorship. This was why the All Progressives Congress (APC) gave the governorship ticket to Lalong from that zone. On the contrary, the PDP picked their own governorship candidate from Plateau North.
Hence a lot of differences were created among the people during the build-up to the election, especially among the political class. So, Gov. Lalong has a duty to bring the people back as one so to ensure political stability within the next four years of his administration.
How Gov. Lalong hopes to go about this will be seen in his policies and programmes. but, at the moment, no one expects him to take off soon even though he has taken over the reins of power. The delay in the take-off of the new administration can be seen in the kind of state handed over to the administration. First, there is the issue of empty treasury. Gov. Lalong has announced to citizens of the state that he inherited empty treasury from his predecessor. The governor said: “I inherited empty treasury and a debt of N104b.” Gov Lalong while addressing judiciary workers led by the chief Judge of the state Justice Pius Damulak at the Presidential Lodge, old Government House, Rayfield, Jos, said: “I found no kobo in the state treasury; I only received a total debt of 104billion, including the non-payment seven month workers salaries, as well as unpaid pension arrears. This debt profile is contained in the handing over note I received.
“I want the judiciary to know that the past administration left 104billion naira documented in the handing over note to me and there is also no kobo left in the treasury of the state and we will have to battle again with the seven months unpaid salaries of workers, including pensioners in the state.”
The implication can only be imagined, said Mr. Santos Ayuba Larab of the History Department a University of Jos. He said: “For such a new government you can’t expect it will take off smoothly. As a matter of fact, the debt profile of the state could be far more that quoted in the handing over note, with a careful investigation, more hidden debt will be discovered. So, whoever expect too much from Gov. Lalong so soon may be ignorant of the rotten state of our dear state at the moment”
With or without fund, the APC-led government cannot overlook some immediate challenges which requires immediate attention. One of such is the poor condition of the state workforce. No doubt, Gov. Lalong inherited a demoralised civil service. As at May 29, 2015 when he took over mantle of leadership, the state civil servants were on strike; they were owed salaries for upward of five months. It took a written agreement between Gov Lalong administration and the labor union for the workers to suspend the strike. Gov Lalong promised to seek credit facilities from bank to settle his workers so as to ginger them up.
Another issue that requires immediate attention is the prolonged insecurity in some parts of the state, especially in Plateau North and Plateau South. The insecurity predates the Jonah Jang administration, but it was not effectively managed. It has been handed over to the new government and everyone expect a different approach by Gov. Lalong to bring the violence to an end.
One of the immediate challenges before the new government is the issue of uncompleted projects. One could count up to 50 of them. But, the most challenging among them all is the intra-city road project in Jos, the Plateau state capital. At the moment, the situation of Jos city is pathetic. The uncompleted state of the road is causing pains to residents. The new government is battling tooth and nail to get the contractors back to site to ensure the roads are completed. The governor is at the moment appealing to residents of the city to bear the situation with promises to get the contractors back soon.
Besides, some close associates of Gov. Lalong believed that the new administration has a lot to do to unbundle it from groups of political jobbers that are already suffocating the new governor. One of Gov. Lalong’s close aides who will prefer to remain anonymous said: “The governor is already overburdened with pressure from people seeking political appointments; some are looking for appointments as commissioners, while other are seeking to become Special Advisers etc. I have noticed that the pressure on the governor was becoming unbearable.”
Governor Lalong is being by pressure from those who served in Dariye’s administration eight years ago. They see the emergence of Lalong as a golden opportunity to return to powerand they are doing everything possible to lobby their way in.
Above all, Gov. Lalong has an immediate task to dispense the litigation over his election at the tribunal. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is challenging the election of Gov. Lalong and until the case is successfully dispensed with, the governor will remain distracted.
Against tgis background, it remains to be seen how Gov. Lalong will tackle the immediate challenges facing the state. Are the people ready to exercise patience and for how long? The APC is new in the state and needs to make impact fast, if it must retain power in the state beyond a single term.
Suspected Boko Haram has invaded communities in Barkin Ladi local government of Plateau state killing 26 members of the community.
The two communities attacked in two days are Inding village and Ropp village, both in Barkin Ladi local government.
In the attack in Ropp village on Wednesday afternoon, nine members of the villages were burnt to ashes inside a room they were hiding.
Chairman of Barkin Ladi local government, Hon Emmanuel Loman who confirmed the attacks said the attackers came in hundreds and surrounded the village preventing the villagers from escaping.
The council boss said, “These killings are becoming too much and we have been shouting on top of our voices but the appropriate authorities paid deaf ears to our cries.”
According to Loman, “In the last two weeks, over sixty people has been Killed by gunmen in Barkin Ladi local government alone.”
One of the victims of the Ropp attack who escaped narrowly, Samson Dadu said, “At first, the gunmen came and rustle 38 cows from the village. Those cows were recovered the next day by the special task force when the stolen cows were being transported to the local government.
“But after recovering the stolen cows from the Fulanis, they mobilize themselves and attacked people of Inding village where they killed 7 people.
“The next day the attackers came in hundreds and surrounded the whole village, they set every house ablaze and if the occupants of the house try to escape they are either shot dead or hacked down with matchet.
“The attackers are heavily armed, soldiers of the special task force cannot even challenge them,” he said.
The villagers said they have so far recovered 27 bodies and they are still searching.
However, the special task force on Jos crisis code named ‘operation safe haven’ was not available to comment on the attacks.
The line of the spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha was said to be switched off when contacted.
The state governor Jonah David Jang has announced a dusk to dawn curfew in the local government to halt the spate of attacks last week. But in spite of that, gun men raided the villages indiscriminately in nights and days.
Youths in Jos, the Plateau State capital, have protested renewed violence in several Berom communities in which no fewer than 30 residents have been killed by gunmen. The protesters asked why neither the state government nor the military task force has failed to halt the attacks. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU reports
•The protesters
When some residents of Jos took to the streets, their protest was not particularly about violence in the Plateau State capital; it was about the bloodbath in several Berom communities in both Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas. Save for the occasional terrorist strikes in Jos, the city has been relatively quiet.
Not so for such Berom neighbourhoods as Shonong, Sopp, Rim, Bangai, Bachi in Riyom, and Zakubang and Vat in Barkin Ladi. In the few weeks those communities have come under consistent attacks in a manner that has everyone wondering not just who the attackers were but why they attacked. No fewer than 30 people were said to have been killed in the attacks. The injured are much more than that, while properties destroyed have yet to be estimated, though reckoned to be staggering.
One question the residents are asking is why the attackers strike mostly at the beginning of the planting season.
Series of organised attacks against the Berom people are gradually becoming an annual ritual. The Berom who are predominantly farmers have been attacked in the last few years especially when the people returned to the farm.
Before the latest onslaught, 10 people were killed in attacks on Berom communities in Riyom. Chairman of Barkin Ladi Local government Hon. Emmanuel Lomang who confirmed the attacks said, 17 people were killed in Vat village while 13 others were killed in Zakupang village, all of Foron District of the local government. She added that the attackers also looted the communities apart from killing the residents.
The recent killings brought back bitter memories of the ugly past, sending shock waves down the spine of residents of the state.
The residents are also asking why and how the killings could continue with the Special Task Force (STF) on the ground.
The STF code-named Operation Safe Haven has its headquarters in Jos but the troops are not that far from Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas. Investigations revealed that because of the level of insecurity in these two local governments, the STF created sector commands in both councils, Sector 9 in Riyom, Sector 6 in Barkin Ladi.
Despite the closeness of the federal troops to the people, residents of the two local governments have continued to witness attacks by unknown gunmen. Some residents of the state said the recent attacks left them thinking that insurgents fleeing from the Northeast may have found another safe haven in Berom land.
They said the attackers’ methods bore a striking resemblance to the modus operandi of Boko Haram fighters, considering the weapons used and tactics deployed. Some of the natives said even the security agencies are scared of the gunmen. Some even said the security agents became all the more reluctant to face the attackers when the latter killed two troops.
The security agents who include men of the state-owned ‘Operation Rainbow’ and personnel of the STF beat a retreat after the incident while those stationed in Shonong were immediately withdrawn and sent back to the Sector 9 headquarters in Riyom on the orderS of the state Commissioner of Police.
The withdrawal of the security agencies further worsened the situation of the civilians as they became helpless and vulnerable. The only alternative available to the helpless villagers is to flee their homes in search of safer heavens.
Chairman of Riyom local government Mrs. Josephine Piyo is not comfortable with the increasing number of displaced persons in various camps at the local government headquaters, describing the situation as pathetic.
She said in tears, “We are in a state of confusion, my people are helpless, I am also helpless, the local authority is helpless, the security cannot protect us as expected, the entire local government is in turmoil, we don’t know what to do anymore.
“I was aware of the fragile security situation in Riyom LGA before I took over a year ago, so I made it a top priority to restore peace in the various communities; I established a peace parley among all the stakeholders of the local government, I mean the Berom, Fulani, the farmers, the cattle breeders, religious leaders, youth leaders and women leaders. We do meet regularly in my office to dialogue on how to achieve peace. And the dialogue process has produced results, there has been stability in the localities, the attacks were no more for some period.
“In fact we counted over six months between the second quarter of 2014 up to the first quarter of 2015, there was no single attack by anyone within the period. All of a sudden, we started seeing attacks shortly after the presidential election on March 28, since then the council has not slept, the people are as helpless as the security agencies. If you ask me, I don’t know the causes of the latest attacks, I thought I had succeeded in restoring peace and we were busy planning to make sure the peace we achieved was sustained so that I can concentrate on providing social infrastructure for the people. But now we have been returned to square one I don’t know where to go from here, I need help.
“The security agencies have tried their best, but the situation has not changed, the attacks continued almost on a daily basis and the gunmen are unchallenged. I think the soldiers on ground need re-enforcement. I pity the security agencies because they are not finding it easy, several of them are risking their lives, they are overwhelmed; more troops are needed here.”
On his part, Chairman of Barkin Ladi local government, Hon Emmanuel Loman also said, “The insecurity in Berom land is becoming protracted and devastating, the federal government need to also give maximum attention they are giving to Northeast to Plateau North Senatorial zone. I said so because, since 2010, more than 10,000 Berom people have been killed by unknown gunmen, we keep crying out but the federal government seems not o take us serious. We have done within our own local power to stop these incessant attacks, the state government have equally done a lot, so what is required now is mass deployment of federal troops to the areas. And how long will the federal government wait to take decisive action, people are been killed on daily bases as if they don’t have the right to live. Something should be done urgently to save the defenseless people”.
The Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly Hon. Daniel Dem believed that those carrying out the attack may be members if the Boko Haram insurgents. The Majority Leader who represents Riyom Constituency said “As a matter of fact my constituency is under siege by gunmen I suspect to be Boko Haram. They are heavily armed and they operate with impunity. They don’t spare the villagers, they also don’t spare the security agencies,
At least 40 Berom women and children have been killed in two attacks by gunmen in Plateau State.
The killings were said to have happened within two days.
The gunmen reportedly stole some heads of cattle during the attacks.
The Berom communities have been living in fear since the attacks occurred.
Though none of the gunmen has been arrested by security agencies, the Berom alleged that their attackers were Fulani herdsmen.
Similar attacks were carried out last week in some communities in Riyom Local Government Area.
Barkin Ladi Local government Chairman Emmanuel Lomang said the suspected Fulani gunmen entered the villages through Jos East borders in the night.
Lomang said: “The gunmen killed 17 people, including women, in Vat village while 13 others were killed in Zakupang village, both in Foron District of the Barkin Local Government Area.”
Apart from the Monday attacks, in which 30 people were killed, gunmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, also killed two newly married men at Kakpwis village in Foron District.
Ward Head of Kakpwis Dagwom, Ahmadu Dung Hwere said: “The attacks occurred around 11pm. Emmanuel Joshua and Bot Joshua were killed in their homes and the killers stole 20 cows belonging to the late Joshua.”
An eyewitness said Emmanuel and Bot were shot when they were discussing near the cowshed.
Emmanuel, 32, and Bot, 30, were married and they had children.
The councillor representing Kakpwis Ward in Foron District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Istifanus Gwom Dung, condemned the attacks.
The councillor described the incessant attacks in the area as a strategy to eliminate the Berom.
Dung decried the nonchalance of security agencies in the local government area, especially men of the Special Task Force (STF), who ought to protect the lives and property of the residents.
The Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis had not spoken on the attacks at the time of filing this report last night.
Also, the STF said it had recovered two bodies, of the three missing soldiers, at Kurmi, a border village between Taraba and Plateau states.
STF spokesman Iweha Ikedichi, a captain, spoke yesterday in Wase with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
A militia group reportedly killed six soldiers at Kurmi village last Tuesday. Three other soldiers were declared missing.
There had been series of attacks at Kurmi, where innocent civilians, particularly women and children, were maimed and killed by the suspected militia group.
The attacks worsened when nine soldiers were killed.
The killings prompted the STF, in collaboration with the 3 Armoured Division, to locate and engage the group in a battle on Saturday.
“We found the two bodies of our missing soldiers during our operation in Kurmi, Wadata and Kadarko communities,” Ikedichi said.
“As we speak, our men are still searching for the remaining soldier. We pray he is still alive.
“We shall leave no stone unturned in our search until we find our man – whether dead or alive,” he added.
The STF spokesman said the military was working hard to curb the excesses of the militia group, which had a stronghold in the communities.
