The outbreak of violence and the killing of dozens of communities members in Mangu, Plateau State on Monday has continued to send shock waves across the entire state with the affected people making demands for a special court that will address the grievances and deliver justice.
Suspected herdsmen were reported to have launched attacks on several communities including Fungzai and Kubwat, both villages in Mangu LGA, burning houses, destroying farmlands and killing more than 100 people.
According to Solomon Maren, a member of the House of Representatives from Mangu/Bokkos federal constituency, 17 communities were affected.
This is just as leaders of the communities have accused the federal government and the police of lacking the capacity and political will to defend minority tribes in the state, while pointing out the inability of the state governor, Simon Lalong to show up and sympathise with them.
The state government has however initiated moves to increase the presence of security personnel in the affected areas to restore community confidence and foster engagement between the two tribal communities that are in conflict.
Meanwhile, Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has responded to insinuations that Fulani herders are responsible for the killings by suggesting they are equally victims of the violence engulfing the communities and the state.
The two sides are however directing some level of blame to the police and other security agencies for failing to protect them or being part of the problem.
On Friday, a representative of the communities where the killings took place, the National President of Mwaghavul Developement Association (MDA), Joseph Gwankat said the police have demonstrated low capacity and political will to secure minority tribes in Nigeria.
And in the wake of the killings, which have now left some 125 people dead and more than 20,000 otters displaced, the national president and the affected communities are calling for the introduction state police as a means of protecting their lives and livelihood.
The community leader, addressing the media disclosed that over 125 corpses have so far been buried, apart from those seen floating inside mining ponds. This is even as many people are still missing and can not be accounted for.
According to him, 20,000 people were displaced while 20 communities have been run over by the suspected bandits in the less than 48 hours operation by these enemies of progress.
He explained that “Up-til now the state government did not deem it necessary to visit the displaced persons, or send any support in terms of relief materials to the affected people to alleviate their suffering.
“The governor’s representatives and some members of the state executive council and heads of security agencies, which include the commissioner of police in the state only visited the Palace of the Mishkaham Mwaghavul Da John Putmang Hirse and headed back to Jos immediately. They did go to the affected communities to comfort them or at least see the level of destruction by this herder militia.”
Gwankat insisted that what is happening to them can best be described as genocide adding that it is systematic and deliberate ethnic cleansing of minority tribes in Nigeria.
According to the community leader the humanitarian situation is overwhelming and pathetic. People are either squatting with relatives, neighbors, in Churches and other available public places adding that they need food, toiletries, medication and places where they can rest their heads.
He argued that there is trauma and psychological depression. There is fear of even their safety where they are taking shelter as the threats spread across the local government.
The association added that these are beyond the Mwaghavul Development Association and Mangu Local Government Council and called for help from spirited individuals, corporate organizations, NGOs and the international communities to help ameliorate the suffering our people are going through at the moment.
Government must take immediate step to facilitate the return of all persons that have become refugees in different IDP camps by reconstructing their homes and providing security for them as well, otherwise, they won’t be able to go back and continue with their farming activities.
They appeal to government to create a special court to dispense justice between conflicting communities which will always help in forestalling conflicts before they escalate.
They also urged NEMA/SEMA to urgently mobilize resources immediately to address the situation of the victims and the hosts of the victims.
One of the victims who gave his name as Victor Iliya said he came to palace of the Miskhaham Mwaghavul to seek refuge because the Fulani herders allegedly has killed his parent and siblings in his village.
According to him, from Bwai to Sabongari, all the people there have been killed and their houses burnt by the Fulani.
“This people will come with their cattle to destroy our farm lands and if you talk, they will kill you. He appealed to government to provide security for the entire people of Mangu LGA to prevent further killings in the area”.
But the Plateau state chairman of Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) Alhaji Mohammad Nuru Abdullahi
in his reaction to the allegation that Fulani herders are the one carrying out the killing said anything that happened in Nigeria today people will start to suspect a Fulani man.
He stressed that this has been there for a long time and have not been resolved. Everything they blame the Fulani without proper investigation. Fulani property worth millions of Naira has been destroyed in Kombum and Bwai districts.
The chairman also narrated how vultures, dogs, and other wide animals feast on the dead bodies of Fulani men and their cattle, adding that the dead bodies are lying in the bush without a befiting burial either Islamic or traditional rites
He said hundreds of their livestock, which includes cows, goats, sheep, turkeys, ducks and chickens are roaming abaut and killers of the herders are hunting them for their personal use.
Food items, household property, like motorcycles, water pumps and other valuable, he said, are either looted or burnt down by their enemies.
According to him, these nefarus activities left thousands of their communities members as a refugees in their mother land in some parts of Mangu, Bokkos, Barki Ladi, Jos East and in other states like Bauchi.
He alleged that security personnel led mobs to burn their houses stressing that yesterday abaut 5.pm security personnel chased away their people from Jakchang in Panyam District and the mobs went ahead burning their houses and their property in the presence of the security personnel .
“This is a calculated attempt to annihilate the Fulani from not only Mangu LGA, but the entire Plateau state . So we are now crying out to the world to come to assist us.. Today hundreds of people, including children and women, the aged do not have food to eat to survive and are being harassed, intimidated, threatened by people they have known for a long time.
According to him, what is happening in Plateau state is a systematic approach to start genocide mission against the Fulani community in the state. The crusade against Fulani, he said, is full fledged in the entire Mangu LGA, with the exception of Gindiri chiefdom.
He said like in Bwai, Kombum, Kerang district, and the entire Mangu South and West, today Fulani are being anihilated from there. They are brutally killed and the corpses are laying on the ground with vultures feasting on them.
Meanwhile, the Plateau State Security Council has held an emergency meeting to review and assess the recent attacks in various villages in Mangu Local Government which left many dead, property destroyed and others injured.
The scurity meeting which held at the Government House Rayfield, Jos was chaired by the Governor Simon Bako Lalong.
Governor Lalong while briefing newsmen after the meeting said the council reviewed the situation and resolved that all suspects arrested for allegedly carrying out the attack must be immediately prosecuted in a transparent and open manner to send a strong message to the public that no criminal conduct will go unpunished.
He said the council condemned the dastardly act and remains committed to sustaining the search for other fleeing perpetrators who must be arrested and dealt with swiftly.
The governor also stated that the security council mandated the security agencies to sustain the presence of their personnel on ground to rebuild confidence and halt any further affront on innocent citizens.
Lalong also disclosed that government will immediately step in to address the plight of displaced persons in the area and work towards restoring normalcy.
The governor also announced the plans to step up engagement both at local and state levels which will lead to setting up of an Engagement Committee to douse the tension generated by the unfortunate incident.
The council also appealed to citizens to increase vigilance and avoid any action that can lead to escalation of the situation. He assured that government will not fold its arms to see its citizens being maimed and killed by criminals for no reason.
PMB Commends Lalong On Efforts At Securing Plateau
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday at the State House, Abuja, lauded the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, on his efforts at restoring peace and security in the state, saying he had made Plateau safer.
In a statement by his media aide, Femi Adesina, he urged the citizens to continue to support government’s commitment at making the state safer.
President Buhari stated this at the virtual commissioning of projects executed by the Lalong administration in various parts of the state.
He said; “Governor Lalong has worked hard to restore peace and security to Plateau State. His efforts have yielded positive results as Plateau is no longer perceived as a place to feel unsafe. Well done, Governor Lalong!
“I advise the citizens of this state to continue to work with the government and security agencies in uniting against crises merchants who seek to exploit the diversity of the state for their selfish reasons.”
President Buhari used the occasion to strongly condemn the cases of isolated attacks on innocent citizens in the rural areas such as the one that occurred this Tuesday where villagers including women and children were killed in Kubat, Mangu LGA, giving assurances that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
The president also commended the governor for demonstrating commitment to continuity in governance by completing projects inherited from previous governments, charging the incoming administration in the state to emulate such in order to avoid wastage of resources.
“I challenge the incoming administration in Plateau State to build on what he has done and sustain the culture of continuity, especially, in the face of dwindling resources and large infrastructure deficit,” President Buhari said.
The projects inaugurated by President Buhari include the Flyover, Interchange and Dualisation of 1.7Km British – American Junction Road to Lamingo Roundabout; Radio – Diagnostic and imaging Centre at Plateau Specialist hospital; Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Command and Staff College at Lamingo, as well as the Inauguration of its Course 001/2023 which he believes will complement efforts at sustaining peace and security.
