We will use self-help to defend ourselves –Middle belt threatens as Plateau masacre climbs to 180

Outrage and condemnation have continued to trail the multiple Christmas eve attacks on Plateau communities as the death toll yesterday rose to 155.

Chairman of Bokkos local government area, Monday Kassa, told newsmen that “up till this moment, our people are still in the bush searching for missing ones. Today we have recovered more than 20 bodies from the bush and the search is not over yet. The death toll from Bokkos local government is now 125.”

Similarly, the chairman of Barkin Ladi local government area, Danjuma Dakil, said the death toll is now 30, not 17 earlier reported. He also disclosed that there are over 1,000 injured victims who were rushed to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

Global watchdog, Amnesty International, yesterday demanded a probe into the latest killing in Plateau, claiming the gunmen operated unhindered for over 48 hours.

It said in a statement that “the Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed the horrific killing of over 140 people by gunmen across over 20 villages in Bokkos and parts of the Barkin-Ladi local government area of Plateau.”

It further claimed that “our investigation shows that the gunmen were on a rampage of killing and destruction for more than 48 hours, moving from one village to another. Apart from Bokkos, where the attacks started and lasted hours, the gunmen also crossed into Barkin Ladi and killed dozens of people in Hurum, Daruwat, Maiyanga, and NTV villages.”

Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said the killing was unacceptable, demanding that “President Bola Tinubu set up an impartial, independent, and effective panel to investigate the apparent failure of security agencies to halt the bloodshed hours after villages that were attacked were gathering bodies of those killed and conveying those injured to hospitals.

“Patterns of recent deadly attacks on the rural areas of Plateau clearly show that the Nigerian authorities have left these communities at the mercy of rampaging gunmen. Nigerian authorities’ failure to tame the tide of this violence is costing people’s lives and livelihoods, and without immediate action, many more lives may be lost,” he alleged.

The global body recalled the promise of President Tinubu to reverse the ugly trend under past administrations but doubted if the promise had translated into a substantial result.

However, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has said the people of the region are left with no option but to resort to self-help to defend themselves given the failure of the Federal Government to put an end to the killings by armed herdsmen in that geopolitical zone of the country.

The MBF also lampooned the Federal Government for failing to move decisively against the armed marauders despite knowing their location and hideout. National President of MBF, Dr Bitrus Pogu, alleged that the failure of the government to ensure the protection of the lives and property of the people amounted to its complicity in the matter.

According to Pogu, “Section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.

“Conversely, the unrelenting massacre of our people in the Middle-Belt States, particularly recently on the Plateau, has shown without any vestige of pessimism that the government and security forces are complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous ethnic nationalities, who are not part of the Sokoto Caliphate.

“It is no longer news that the hideout from which these insurgents/terrorists launch their attacks on the states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, and Southern Kaduna has been known to the government and security forces for decades, yet they have deliberately fortified this evil theatre from any destruction, thus providing a safe haven for these terrorists to smuggle arms, train their mercenaries, and unleash unimaginable terror on innocent citizens without any provocation whatsoever.

“Our resolve to confront headlong this abysmal and surreptitious extinction of our people is anchored on our quest for the liberation of Middle-Belt states from the oppressive and tyrannical manipulations of external forces that have retarded development in our region. We shall take the bull by the horn to defend our people as the last option left to us, predicated on our land, our people, and our heritage.”

Similarly, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), on Tuesday, strongly condemned the heinous attacks on various communities in Plateau and called for reassessment of current military tactics.

The forum, in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, expressed concern over the inability of the military to prevent the Christmas eve killings, despite claiming to have promptly responded to 36 distress calls from different locations in Plateau in the 48 hours leading up to Christmas.

“This highlights the forum’s growing suspicions regarding the efficacy and sufficiency of the government’s operational methods. Considering this incident and the escalating security challenges faced by the region, NEF urgently demands a comprehensive investigation into the reported security lapse.”

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has directed security agencies to immediately move in, scour every stretch of the zone, and apprehend the culprits who invaded and killed scores in Plateau.

The President, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, on Tuesday, also directed immediate mobilisation of relief resources for surviving victims of the primitive and cruel attacks as well as medical treatment for the wounded.

While condoling the government and the people of Plateau, President Tinubu assured Nigerians that these envoys of death, pain, and sorrow will not escape justice.

This is as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Tuesday condemned the violent attacks on Plateau communities. In a statement in Abuja, CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, described the ugly incident as a direct assault on our shared values of peace, unity.

Okoh, who urged citizens to shun all forms of violence, called on the security agencies to intensify their efforts in intelligence gathering and proactive interventions to pre-empt and forestall these types of dastardly acts in the future.

Similarly, the Nigerian Baptist Convention has decried ‘the wanton killings of Christians and destruction of churches’ by Fulani militia in NTV, Dares, Yelwa and Chirang, where a Baptist church was burnt and nine members, including the pastor of the church, Solomon Gushe, were killed. In Chirang village, 40 people were also reported to have been killed by the rampaging militias.

President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Israel Adelani Akanji, who was saddened by the killings, called on security agencies to bring the culprits to book.

In a statement Tuesday by Rev. Eben Durodola, Public Relations Officer, Akanji requested President Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, “provide necessary security to all Nigerians and bring an end to the wanton killings of Christians in the Northern part of the country.”

He called on all Christians to wake up and provide assistance to those who lost their relations and those who were wounded in the attack and are currently in the hospital.

According to the statement, the Fulani militias decided to strike during the Christmas celebration when people are in the mood of giving thanks to God for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.