Will the over Two Decades-Old Killings on the Plateau Abate?

In this piece, SerikiAdinoyi wonders if the persistent killings in Plateau State which dates back to over two decades will abate soon.

In the wake of recent consecutive attacks that claimed over 100 lives in Plateau State, President Bola Tinubu, Governor Caleb Mutfwang and indeed all Nigerians of good conscience roundly condemned the gruesome act on innocent lives, especially women and children.

Expressing profound sorrow over the bloodshed, the President who condemned the killings as a tragedy ordered that the criminals be unraveled and brought to book.

He said, “I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts.

“The Federal Government remains committed to supporting Governor Mutfwang and the Plateau State government in promoting dialogue, fostering social cohesion, and ensuring accountability; crucial steps towards permanently resolving the conflict in Plateau.”

On his part, Governor Mutfwang who visited the attacked villages, expressed deep sorrow over the incident, admitting that despite efforts made, the government fell short in preventing the tragedy.

According to him: “The whole nation mourns with you, the international community mourns with you. I have cried since yesterday. All arrangements were put in place to avoid this, yet we failed you. On behalf of the government and security agencies, please forgive us.”

The governor condemned the continuous attacks that have plagued the Irigwe land and promised renewed commitment towards ending the violence. He lamented the state of infrastructure, including poor roads, attributing it to years of neglect due to insecurity and terrorism.

But he said, “We are more determined than ever to ensure that no more innocent blood is shed on the Plateau. There’s no reason for anyone to take the law into their hands. While we continue to invest in security, communities must also rise to defend themselves. We can no longer afford to sleep while the enemy strikes at night.”

During his visit, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. KayodeEgbetokun also condemned the attacks and threatened to deal with the attackers. He also warned that their days are numbered.

On his part, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General OluyemiOluyede who led a delegation of senior military officers to assess the level of destruction caused by the assailants in Bokkos, assured the people that the perpetrators would be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.

He said, “The senseless acts of violence that was witnessed in some of our communities must stop. Let me make it unequivocally clear that any further attacks on innocent civilians, destruction of property, or acts of lawlessness will be decisively dealt with.”

The Army boss warned that “the military alongside other security agencies, will not stand by idly while criminal elements destabilize our communities. Those who think they can take the law into their hands and go unpunished should have a re-think of their actions because the full weight of the law will be brought upon them.”

But in less than five days after his visit and warning, the assailants dared him with another deadly attack on Bassa LGA killing at least 52 people. His warning and condemnation are not enough to deter the dare-devil criminals.

For over two decades, this is what Plateau people have had to live with; attacks and killings every other day. Governments on their part would always condemn the attacks, promise to scale up security, and threaten to deal with attackers. No serious arrest has been made. Even when few arrests were made, nothing came out of them, the criminals got away with their acts.

No one can point to one criminal or their sponsor that has been arrested from these persistent Plateau killings that has been severely dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.

In a few cases where arrests were made, they were transferred from the state and that was the end of it; nothing was heard anymore.

In 2010, some foreign militia were arrested in Jos with weapons and were taken to the state Police command headquarters. Directives came from above that they should be transferred to Abuja. Nothing more was heard of them till date.

This has given credence to the belief that there are high profile persons in the society that sponsor these killings, who would always intervene to ensure that criminals that are arrested never get to face prosecution. Until government stands up to address these forces behind the killings, it will continue.

Governor Mutfwang recently vowed to address this when he said, “As your Governor, I make this solemn promise: anyone involved in spilling the blood of a Plateau citizen will be pursued and brought to justice. None of them will go scot-free.”  It is only hoped that it will not end in solemn promise, as action must be taken to back the promise.

Recently, Mutfwang observed with distress that villages from where natives were displaced by attackers two years ago are now being occupied by strangers.

According to him, Tyop community in Mangu LGA which was violently attacked two years ago is now being forcefully occupied, with some intruders erecting new buildings using materials taken from properties belonging to the original inhabitants.

The Governor directed security agencies to collaborate with community leaders and local government enumeration staff to document all structures in the area, noting when they were built, ownership of land, duration of settlement, and means of acquisition of the land.

He warned that any form of unlawful occupation or insubordination that could spark further violence would not be tolerated.

The Governor reiterated his charge to security heads to ensure the enumeration exercise is conducted peacefully, fairly, and with a sense of justice to all parties involved.

With this development, how can government sincerely say it does not know who the attackers are? People are violently chased out of their villages by ‘unknown gunmen’ and the same villages are now being occupied by ‘strangers’, yet government claims it does not know the attackers. Government must show sincerity if it truly wants to fight the insecurity in Plateau.

During his visit, the Inspector General of Police agreed that the attackers took advantage of the limited security manpower across the local governments, but reassured the people that the tide would soon turn.

“I assure you that these criminal elements will soon be outnumbered. I appeal to the people of Plateau to remain calm and peaceful”, he said.

Likewise, the Chief of Army Staff, during his visit also promised that more troops will be deployed to the state.

With security challenge confronting the nation on every side, how many personnel can Plateau State alone be given; what happens to other parts of the country that equally needs security attention?

This brings back the long quest for the establishment of State Police. The call for state police has over the years been repeatedly discussed yet nothing has been done about it.

The Federal Government has not advanced any reasonable excuse for not buying into the idea of allowing state police thrive. The fear that state Governors could use state police to perpetuate political crimes against opposition is not enough to jettison the idea, especially at this point when the IGP himself has owned up to the obvious numerical deficit in manpower of the force.

Now, the farming season is here but the farmers are scared to go to their farms because they feel unsafe.

Bokkos, one of the attacked LGAs is a Nigeria’s and Plateau State’s food basket. The council is known to produce the majority of Irish potatoes and corn. With the current crisis, which has displaced farmers from their farms, production of these crops will surely be impacted.

The attackers not only kill, they also destroy farmlands and cart away farm produce. The ultimate aim is to displace the people from their ancestral lands and cripple the economy of the state.

The buck stops at the desk of the Federal Government; it cannot pass it to anyone else seeing that the security of Nigerian citizens is its primary responsibility. Nigerians are not asking for too much by saying they should be protected.

Where the government is failing in this all-important responsibility, and prompting citizens to take arms to defend themselves, then anarchy ensues. God forbid that Nigeria is thrown into such chaos.