A regional group, The Middle Belt Forum, has alleged that the federal government and the security agencies are aware of the hideout of marauders who invade communities in the region but have failed to act.
The regional group called for the destruction of Mahanga Forest from where terrorists unleash mayhem on the states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Southern Kaduna.
National president of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu, also told LEADERSHIP Friday that the increasing killings in the region over the years are a grand design of ethnic cleansing by the northern oligarchy to dispossess the nationalities of the region of their ancestral lands, adding that the invaders were renaming communities after attacking their inhabitants.
The regional group also called on the governors in the area to rise to the challenge of containing the marauders, even as it insisted that the security agencies know the hideouts from where they come to terrorise the areas.
According to Pogu, the hideout from where these terrorists launch their attacks on the states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Southern Kaduna has been known to government and security forces for decades, yet they have deliberately allowed the place to remain, thus providing a safe haven for the terrorists to smuggle arms, train their mercenaries and unleash violence on innocent citizens at will.
He criticized government for failing in its primary duty of catering for the security and welfare of the people, as mandated by Section 14(b) of Nigerian’s 1999 constitution.
“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 is known to 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.
“Mahanga, a forest which lies at the foot of the hills of Bokkos local government area of Plateau State and borders Wamba L.G.A of Nasarawa State to the south, is the infamous launching gro`und of all attacks against our people in the last two dec ades and fully known to government and security forces,” Pogu said.
According to him, the government and security forces have shielded the autonomous Fulani community which is known to harbor all manner of weapons, including missiles that are used to destabilise the peaceful coexistence of the country without ever invading and uprooting them from the forest.
“This same tactic of nurturing and fortifying terrorist camps finds expression in the Mandara Hills in Borno and Alagarno where the military moved the entire residents of over 11,000 people from Sabon Gari, leaving the whole road between Biu and Dambua for the terrorists to operate freely, even collecting tolls on the highway. This implicates the government of collusion with these armed non-state actors to kill and maim our people with the intent to eclipse our heritage and existence,” he stated.
Pogu, however, vowed that the people of the area were ready to confront head-on the “abysmal and surreptitious extinction of our people” and liberate the Middle Belt States from the oppressive and tyrannical manipulations of external forces that have retarded development in the 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.
“It is pertinent to note that the divide and rule tactic over the years employed by our adversaries have accounted for the political subjugation of our people,thereby limiting our access to economic power which concomitantly render us vulnerable and defenceless in the face of carefully orchestrated stratagems to eclipse our heritage and continued survival,” he said.
The Middle Belt Forum further lamented the plight of ethnic nationalities in the states of Nasarawa, Gombe, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Kebbi, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger, Kwara, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Kogi and Abuja (FCT), “who are daily butchered like chickens.”
The regional group noted that the relentless killings are symptomatic of the northern oligarchy’s treatment of indigenous people of the Middle Belt as lesser humans without dignity and worth.
Pogu declared that the people of the region “shall never again accept the ignoble and inferior status imposed on their people by the caliphate and Nigerian government acting in connivance with security forces to drive us out of our ancestral homeland.
“This is in view of the fact that our forefathers who fought to keep this country united are warriors who deserve nothing but respect and honour.
The Forum challenged the governors of the region to face up the security challenges in the areas squarely.
“Our governors should rise up to the responsibility of safeguarding the lives of citizens through the maximum utilisation of vigilantes in communities under attacks to stem the tide of these massacres since they lack autonomy over the military and police forces.
“In view of the helplessness of governors in the midst of these attacks, state police is the only option left to secure this country from a full-blown war as arms stockpile is on an alarming increase given the ineffectiveness of government in guaranteeing the security of lives and property of Nigerians,” It said.
The MBF further alerted the governing that “the occupation and renaming of communities by the Fulani after dislodging our people is part of the grand plan of the northern oligarchy to stamp our people out of their ancestral homeland which we will resist to the point of death without faltering.”
Ohanaeze Seeks Prosecution Of Killers
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, under the leadership of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has called on President Bola Tinubu to leave no stone unturned in fishing out and prosecuting the perpetrators behind the massacre of over 150 innocent citizens in Plateau State.
This was made known through a statement issued by the national publicity secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, and made available to LEADERSHIP Friday.
Chief Iwuanyanwu condemned the heinous act as “brutish, cruel and barbaric,” and urged President Tinubu not to let the killers go unpunished.
The Ohanaeze president-general also sent his condolences on behalf of the Igbo to the governor of Plateau State, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, the people of Plateau State and the Middle Belt Forum led by Dr. Bitrus Pogu.
Adventist Church Urges Govt On Safety Of Lives
The Seventh-day Adventist Church, Northern Nigeria Union Conference, has called on the government to ensure the security of lives and property of ordinary Nigerians.
It also expressed condolences and sympathies to the victims and families affected by the recent attacks in Bokkos, Mangu, and Bakin Ladi local government areas of Plateau State.
In a statement signed by the president of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Northern Nigeria Union Conference, Pastor Istifanus Ishaya, the church said it stands in solidarity with the affected communities and families, and prayed for comfort, strength, and healing during this challenging time.
Northern Reps Condemn Plateau killings, Demand Thorough Probe
The Northern caucus in the House of Representatives has described as barbaric, senseless and vicious the recent murder of citizens in 23 villages across Bokkos and Barkin Ladi local government areas of Plateau State.
The lawmakers from the 19 northern states, in a statement signed by the chairman, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, said the vicious act is not a representation of what the northern part of the country is known for.
Doguwa said the region is known for being accommodating and respecter of individual differences along religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic spectra and as such the incident is devoid of reason, was indefensible and a reproach on humanity.
“From media reportage putting the figure of the casualties in the coordinated attacks to over 150 and the outrage that have since trailed it, we join the rest of Nigerians to demand a thorough and well intentioned fact finding on the direct and remote cause(s) of these senseless killings that have put our region in the bad light of national discuss again,” he said.
Plateau Killings Unacceptable – AYCF
On its part, the leadership of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) has described the barbaric killings of innocent people on the eve of Christmas as unacceptable and strongly condemnable.
It lamented that the attack on communities on the Plateau, which resulted in the death of over 100 persons with many others injured, and over 200 houses burnt, is one to many and must not be swept under the carpet, stressing that perpetrators must be fished out and made to face the wrath of the law.
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