Berom Women Development Association (BWDA) and the Association of Behwong Berom Weneng Yere (ABBWY) have called on the federal government to review the security template in Plateau State in line with the state’s peculiar security challenges.
Riyom local government area of the state again recently came under attack from suspected Fulani bandits who killed over 27 persons.
A statement signed by Ngo Serah Banga and Dr.Search Reng Ochekpe in Jos yesterday said the constant attacks in the state was genocide, and not farmers-herders crisis.
According to them, the allegation that security personnel often collaborate with the attackers demands urgent attention.
They said as mothers and daughters of the land, they were shedding unseen tears and no word could describe the feelings arising from the murders and destruction of entire communities which have continued in defiance of reason and logic.
The Berom women also maintained that they were especially traumatised by the constant flow of the blood of their people, stressing that the sight of butchered babies, mothers and breadwinners kept their hearts pounding.
“Burnt homesteads and outright destruction of livelihoods are horrible and heartbreaking sights. We have watched with trepidation how these attacks have become repetitive without corresponding government intervention.
“We are disturbed that the response has always been merely reactionary, sadly contained in condolence visits and palliatives, without as much as a decisive final solution,” they said.
The tatement further noted that it was common knowledge that the unprovoked violence visited on the people could no longer be described in simplistic and dishonest statements as herder/farmer crisis, adding that it had become apparent that this is an organised genocidal campaign against the people and land that should be met with comparable force.
The association further demanded justice for victims of the atrocities.
“We demand action, enough of all the words and empty promises,” it said.
BWDA urged the authorities to respond to this matter with the sincerity and urgency that it deserves.
“We commend Governor Caleb Mutfwang for his on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the attacked community, which revealed a troubling lack of accountability on the part of the security personnel,” the statement said.
The Berom women association said they were worried that posers raised by the governor during the visit were not satisfactorily responded to by the leadership of the sector command.
“This, together with eyewitness accounts suggesting indifference or active collaboration by the personnel call for a thorough investigation and accompanying tough sanctions where necessary,” they added.
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