Lalong, Lawmakers at Loggerheads over Jos Crisis

•Heavy security presence in assembly as gov relaxes 24-hour curfew

Seriki Adinoyi

The crisis in Jos, on Monday, assumed a new dimension with Governor Simon Lalong getting at loggerheads with members of the state House of Assembly over purported attempt to seal the state House of Assembly.

THISDAY observed on Monday morning, there was a heavy presence of security personnel including the Police and the DSS in and around the Assembly complex, denoting that there was a problem in the arena.

Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Abok Ayuba, later raised the alarm that the assembly complex was being sealed by security agents, thereby creating more tension in the city.

When THISDAY visited the assembly, there was actually unusual presence of heavily armed security personnel in and around the complex, but it was not sealed as purported, because people were seen going in and out of the complex.

However, the extra presence of armed security men raised questions. THISDAY gathered that it might not be unconnected with the position of the Lawmakers, in which they expressed worries that the Presidency was bias in its condemnation of the attacks in Jos.

The House had said the Presidency was quick to condemn the attack on Muslim commuters that were on transit from Bauchi, but did not find a voice to do same, when a Christian community was heavily attacked and over 35 were massacred.

The House also gave two weeks to the governor, whom they accused of being complacent with his handling of the crises to put an end to the persistent attacks and killings, urging him to stop playing politics with the lives of the people.

The stand of the House was allegedly seen as confronting the high authorities, a development that didn’t go down well with the governor and indeed the presidency, leading to the beefing up of security at the Assembly.

Reacting, the governor denied having a hand in the unusual drafting of heavily armed security to the Assembly, urging the speaker to direct his worries to the appropriate security agents.

Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dan Manjang, described the Speaker’s alarm as “false allegation”.

He said: “The attention of the Plateau State Government has been drawn to allegations made by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abok Nuhu Ayuba, who appeared on Channels TV programme on Monday 30th August claiming that the Assembly Complex has been sealed. This false allegation has further been circulated on social media associating the Executive arm of Government and the Governor as being behind it.

“We wish to make it abundantly clear that the Executive arm of Government and the Governor are not aware or behind the purported sealing of the House as he (governor) does not dabble into the affairs of another independent arm of government. It is on record that His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako was the first governor to implement full autonomy for the legislature and judiciary as well as Local government in the country.

“It is therefore not possible for him to be associated with any action that will impede the activities of the House, which has its rules and conventions. The Governor remains the longest serving Speaker of the House in the history of democracy in Plateau State, understands the workings of the House, and has demonstrated uncommon respect to the leadership and members of the Assembly.

“To the best of our knowledge, the House of Assembly remains open for legislative business. The good people of Plateau State and members of the public are advised to ignore the allegation and refrain from dragging the Executive arm of government and the governor into the affairs of the House.

“Those who have any concerns should channel them to the security agencies and desist from peddling falsehood against the Executive arm of Government and His Excellency the Governor.”

Earlier, the governor, who has relaxed the 24-hour curfew, had in a statewide broadcast blamed some political and religious leaders, as well as a section of the media for escalating the crisis in the state with their utterances.

Lalong said, “During these trying times, I have watched with great disappointment the unfortunate comments and utterances of some citizens including religious, political and community leaders from within and outside the state, who rather than calm nerves and join hands with the government to ensure the quick restoration of peace, resorted to pushing out ethno-religious sentiments that further created tensions.

“Some sections of the mainstream and social media also chose to play to the gallery and fanned the embers of hatred and disunity. However, majority of media platforms performed their duties diligently and highlighted government’s efforts in discharging its constitutional obligation of ensuring the safety of lives and property.

“I must commend people of conscience across different faiths, ethnic and political backgrounds, that have remained objective, dispassionate and resolute towards condemning the criminal actions of the attackers and offering useful suggestions to government on ways to improve public safety.”

While reviewing the 24-hour curfew, the governor said, “After my visit to Yelwa Zangam village, I took a tour of the Jos metropolis to see things for myself. I also engaged the security agencies to review the general security situation in the three Local Government Areas where the curfew was imposed, as well as other parts of the state.

“At the end of the review, government took the decision that the curfew in Jos North is to be relaxed. Beginning from Monday 30th August 2021, the curfew shall be enforced from 6pm to 6am until further notice. The curfew in Jos South and Bassa is to also be further relaxed. As from Monday 30th August 2021, the curfew shall be enforced between 10pm to 6am until further notice.

“The Ban on Tricycles (Keke NAPEP) and hawkers remains in force within Jos/Bukuru metropolis. The Plateau Economic and Investment Summit earlier scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of September 2021 has been postponed; new date will be announced and communicated to all our invitees.”