At a time the outrage trailing the Christmas eve massacre of no fewer than 195 persons in Plateau State is yet to abate, with none of the perpetrators apprehended, the Middle-Belt Forum, MBF, said yesterday that the insurgents have written Pushit community in Mangu LGA on a fresh attack.
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MBF Deputy National President, Stanley Kavwam, who disclosed this in an interview on Arise TV, said the terrorists were planning to launch the attack on the Pushit community on December 29 (today), disclosing that anonymous persons dropped letters of previous attacks on Mangu LGA.
Kavwam spoke as the United Nations and Northern Caucus of the House of Representatives and Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, yesterday demanded a thorough investigation and probe of the attacks.
This is even as the national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Bishop Francis Oke, urged President Bola Tinubu to deploy the full force of federal might to end the spate of insecurity, especially in Plateau State, saying peace in the state could no longer be postponed.
Also, the convener of the Initiative for a Better and Brighter Nigeria, IBBN, Prophet Isa El-Buba, called on the President to halt his holidays in Lagos and return to address insecurity by sending a comprehensive bill for state policing to the National Assembly, even as Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim sought security reforms.
Last week, about 25 Plateau communities suffered coordinated attacks by gunmen who killed no fewer than 195, injured more than 3,000, displaced 10,000 and razed 1,290 houses.
Military knows culprits, their hideouts —Kavwam
Kavwam claimed the military was aware of the identity of the attackers and their hideouts, adding that some communities were still being invaded.
“While I was driving down from Jos to this place, I received a call. A letter was sent to my own village by the terrorists that the attackers were going to invade on December 29,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “In all the attacks that were orchestrated, there was a letter to that effect that was dropped by an anonymous person, intimating the residents of Mangu LGA that there would be attacks.”
Asked if they informed the security forces of the letters on impending attacks, he said over 30 distress calls were made to security personnel before the recent attacks in Plateau.
He said most of the communities attacked in Plateau were Christian settlements, adding that the operation usually lasted for about 24 hours without security intervention.
Kavwam said security agencies knew that an attack was coming before the Christmas eve massacre.
His words: “They received about 37 distress calls, that is operation Safe Haven or the Joint Task Force. About 37 distress calls! Yet nothing was done.
“All the casualties that we are talking about are in a community inhabited by Christians and the security forces know the attackers, they even know their hideouts for two decades.
“They know where they orchestrate the attacks because that autonomous community, called Manga, is at the foot of Bokkos hills, bordering Wamba in Nasarawa State to the south.
“It’s this autonomous community these attacks are orchestrated from, just the same way we have in the Mandara hills in Borno State.
“For instance, the military relocated an entire community of over 11,000 people, leaving the entire Dangoa road free for the terrorists to operate.
“Section 14B of the 1999 Constitution as amended stipulates that the welfare and security of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. These attacks could last for as long as 12 to 24 hours and there is no security presence whatsoever.
“Pushit community is in Mangu LGA of Plateau State. A letter was sent today (yesterday) to Pushit that they are going to attack on the 29th.”
He added that despite President Tinubu’s directive to service chiefs to intensify security in the affected communities, “nothing has changed and the attacks are still going on and there is no response from the security authorities.”
We’ll implement President’s directive – Police Affairs Minister
However, Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Geidam, yesterday assured that President Tinubu’s directive will be implemented to the letter.
Geidam, who condoled with the families, government and people of Plateau State over the killings, said the barbaric action was perpetrated by enemies of the country, noting that the President had directed that no stone should be left unturned in apprehending both the collaborators and prime suspects involved in this crime against humanity
In a statement, Geidam said: “The loss of innocent lives is a tragedy that touches us all, and we stand united with the people of Plateau State during this difficult time.
“The actions of these enemies of the country have caused immense pain and sorrow, and we extend our sympathies to the affected families and communities.
“The leadership of the police ecosystem is resolute in its commitment to bringing the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.
“In line with the directives of Mr. President, we will leave no stone unturned in apprehending both the collaborators and prime suspects involved in this crime against humanity.
“Our collective resolve is to ensure that those responsible face the full force of the law.
“It is our firm belief that by standing together, cooperating with security agencies, and providing vital information, we can assist in arresting these callous criminals who are currently on the run.
“We understand the gravity of the security challenges facing Plateau State and the entire country, and we assure you of our continued collaboration with other stakeholders to address these issues.
‘Despite this tragic incident, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ongoing reforms within the police, aimed at enhancing professionalism and the delivery of top-notch service to the Nigerian people.”
UN, Northern Reps Caucus demand thorough investigation
Meanwhile, UN Rights Chief, Volker Turk, said yesterday he was “deeply alarmed” by the string of attacks on villages in central Nigeria which left nearly 200 dead, according to local authorities.
“I am deeply alarmed by the series of attacks by gunmen on multiple rural communities in Plateau State.
“I call on the Nigerian authorities to investigate this incident promptly, thoroughly and independently, consistent with international human rights law, and to hold those responsible to account in fair trials.
“The cycle of impunity fuelling recurrent violence must be urgently broken. The government should also take meaningful steps to address the underlying root causes and to ensure non-recurrence of this devastating violence,’’ Turk said in a statement.
Also, the Northern Caucus of the House of Representatives called for a thorough investigation into the murder of citizens in many villages across Bokkos and Barkin Ladi LGAs of Plateau State on Christmas eve.
The leader of the caucus, Ado Dogwua, said the Plateau killing should not and had never been a representation of what the northern part of the country was known for.
In a statement, he said: “We are known for being accommodating and respectful of individual differences along religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic spectra and as such these incidents is devoid of reason, indefensible and a reproach on our humanity.
“We believe that only a thorough fact-finding mission with a commitment to punishing all those that played direct or indirect roles in this massacre as well as other pockets of killings that have been taking place in the state in the last few weeks as reported in the media will lead to a lasting peace in the Plateau region, which has now become renowned for attacks and reprisal attacks, especially among farming communities and the pastoralists.
“We call on governments at both state and federal levels and all security agencies to ensure justice is served in this matter by bringing all the perpetrators to book and finding lasting solutions to these recurring criminality in Plateau and other parts of Northern Nigeria.”
Probe killings, Chinda tells NASS
In like manner, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, urged the National Assembly to commence investigations into the killings in Plateau State.
The member representing Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency, Rivers State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in a statement titled “Murder on the Plateau: Time to end the killings,” flayed security agencies for always failing to act on intelligence reports which often precede deadly attacks.
“We urge the National Assembly Security Committees to draw strength from Sections 4, 88 and 89 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, as amended, to commence a proper and detailed investigation into the persistent murders and proffer legislative solutions to end same.”
According to him, the Christmas eve attacks in Plateau State have raised national and global concerns about the security of persons in Nigeria, particularly the North-Central zone and the murders that have gone on for too long on the Plateau.
“These murders, which have become the cyclical outcomes of inter-communal violence in Plateau State, show how grievances between communities can be turned into organised violence by unidentified groups and persons who use violent methods to address perceived differences.
“When Jos was turned into an infernal theatre and a killing field in which 1,000 people lost their lives in 2001, many thought that the violent expressions of differences had reached the zenith but unfortunately, more attacks followed in Jos, Wase, Langtang North, Langtang South, Shendam, Mikang, Qua’an Pan, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom, resulting in many deaths and the destruction of properties.”
He noted that the reasons adduced by observers for the sad state of affairs ranged from internecine fights between indigenes and settlers for natural resources to inter-ethnic rivalry ensuing among ethnic groups “no longer appear plausible given the increasing rates of attacks, the sophistication of invasions of communities, and the anonymity of the perpetrators of the attacks. There is something about this anonymity which makes the murders of the Plateau sinister.”
He continued: “What is more sinister is that warnings of impending attacks are unheeded by security agencies, coupled with the apparent unwillingness of the political leadership to arrest perpetrators and nip the violence in Plateau State in the bud.
‘’If the accounts of witnesses are to be believed, what stands clear is the act of collusion and conspiracy in the bloodletting. The murders on the Plateau have gone on for too long and must be stopped now!”
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