…Reps Northern, Minority caucuses demand thorough investigation into killings
While the tears are still flowing following the coordinated attacks in several communities in Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi and Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State on Christmas Eve that claimed the lives of over 140 people and left many others injured and displaced, there are fears that another community in the state may be in danger of a fresh attack.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Middle Belt Forum, Stanley Kavwam, made the revelation on Thursday during an interview on AriseTV, saying that terrorists were planning to launch an attack on Pushit community in Mangu LGA of Plateau State on 29 December (today) and had sent a letter to the community notifying them of the imminent attack.
“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 the 29th of this December,” Kavwam said.
“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,” he said.
Kavwam claimed that the identity of the attackers and their hideouts are known to the military, saying that security agencies knew that an attack was going to occur before the Christmas Eve massacre, having received about 37 distress calls, “yet nothing was done”.
He further said that despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive to service chiefs to beef up security in communities affected by these attacks, “nothing has changed and the attacks are still going on and there is no response from the security authorities”.
Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has been giving assurances of the Federal Government’s commitment to addressing the insecurity in the state, restoring peace and security, and bringing those responsible for the attacks to justice.
In a tweet on Thursday via his official X (formerly Twitter) account (@CalebMutfwang) after he welcomed the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale-Oke, on a condolence visit at the Government House in Jos, Mutfwang said the attacks on Christmas Eve “claimed the lives of many in communities across Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi, and Mangu Local Government Areas of the state”.
“Our steadfast commitment is to safeguard the lives and property of our citizens. Our heartfelt condolences extend to the families of the departed, the affected communities, and those who sustained injuries,” he said.
In another tweet, the governor acknowledged that in all of the attacks on communities in the state, there have been instances where the security forces did not respond at all or responded after the attacks, saying what was needed was “to improve on the operational capacity of these security agencies so they can be proactive and respond on time, within the resources that is available to them”.
But majority of opinions being expressed by Nigerians on social media point to a general belief that whatever strategy being deployed by the federal and state governments and the security forces to tackle the recurring attacks on the Plateau does not seem to be working and needs to change urgently.
Many who replied to the governor’s tweet on Thursday emphasised that community policing was the way to go in order to put a stop to the killings in Plateau State and secure the communities, while some asked the governor to be bold enough to call for redeployment of the security chiefs in the state.
PS.Gara, tweeting via @ps_gara, said, told the governor that in addition to improving on the operational capacity of security agencies, there was the need to establish community policing.
“Let able men have what it takes to repel attacks and protect their communities before security agents arrive. You can’t put security foot on all those scattered hamlets,” he said.
Ibikunle Asheem Olawale, tweeting via @Ibikunl19440072, said, “You also have to be proactive, with the level of security architecture we’re running now, you have to work with the community leaders, vigilante, and whistleblower that can work hands to hand with police. Only security personnel can’t do the job.”
VANDI (@_AndrewAmos) said the only way to stop the attacks was for the state government to invest heavily in local security architecture and give ‘Operation Rainbow’, the state’s security outfit saddled with the responsibility of maintaining peace in the hinterlands, “sophisticated weapons to deal with these terrorists”.
“Replicate the Amotekun initiative in Plateau. Set up local/community security services. The locals are the best bet to fight d terrorists. Arm them and allow them fight back. Blood for blood, pound for pound. Watch d crisis disappear,” said OLAMIDE LMD (@olamide_lmd).
Mazzi Ebuka (@EbukaIkeakor) said the focus should not be on the response time but on avoiding reoccurrence.
“Arm your patriotic and angry youths with your security votes, comb the forests, get offensive with these killers, and destroy their destruction capacity on defenseless people,” he suggested.
Alfacino Domino (@alfaceeno) said “community policing is just the way to go. e.g Amotekun”.
Ajiangeleyes (@Ajiangeleyes) said that Nigerians do not want the security agencies responding during or after attack only, adding, “We want them in the bush seeking out and smoking out those sons of a gun. Unless if they truly collude with them, letting them rest only to return with a more deadly massacre.”
Emmanuel Rooney (@roooooneeeey) said what is needed is to “create a state security and vigilante with the traditional rulers and fish out the criminals locally”
“It is time for you guys to set up a proper local vigilante system that is armed like Amotekun and work with the security agencies. Stop supporting the security agencies alone, create your state local security network as well!” said Enitan (@EnitanOyekanm).
Gambo Stephen (@gambo_stephen) said ‘Operation Rainbow’ and local vigilante need to supported and “put around those villages to safeguard their ancestral home”.
Julian G. Kura (@kura_julian) alleged that the military “has been infiltrated by the attackers cohorts” which enables “them plan ahead with precision”, adding, “Community Police is key.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Minority Caucus has urged the joint National Assembly Security Committees to commence a proper and detailed investigation into the persistent killings in Plateau State.
The House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said, “There was something about the anonymity that made the murders on the Plateau sinister. 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.”
Chinda said if the accounts of witnesses of the Plateau killings were to be believed, what stands out is the act of collusion and conspiracy in the bloodletting.
“While we appreciate the efforts and sacrifices of our military and other security agencies this far, we call on them to be unrelenting in tackling the crisis until victory is assured for all,” he said.
Similarly, the Northern Caucus of the House of Representatives, in a statement by its leader, Ado Dogwua, called for a thorough investigation, saying the Plateau killings “are devoid of reason, indefensible and a reproach on our humanity” and should not be a representation of what the northern part of the country is known for.
“We are known for being accommodating and respectful of individual differences along religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic spectra,” Doguwa said.
“From media reportage putting the figure of the casualties in the coordinated attacks to over 150 and the outrage that has 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.
“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,” he said.
