Looking to the future together

WRITING this material was the most difficult task I have ever undertaken in a long time. To have refreshed one’s memory is to think of those numerous communities in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos South, Bassa, Bokkos, Mangu and indeed Jos East which have been attacked and hundreds of people killed in all despicable manners.

Picture yourself during the attack of Gashish where the police in Plateau State had confirmed that 86 people had died in the violence that erupted on Saturday, June 23, 2018 in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.

President Muhammadu Buhari had been briefed on the “deeply unfortunate killings,” according to a post on his Twitter page; he was reported to have said:

‘The grievous loss of lives and property arising from the killings in Plateau today is painful and regrettable’, a second post said. ‘My deepest condolences to the affected communities. We will not rest until all murderers and criminal elements and their sponsors are incapacitated and brought to justice’.

The violence, perpetrated by armed herdsmen, almost led to reprisal attacks in Jos, the state capital, the next day; Sunday leading the Lalong government to declare a curfew, on return from the convention of his party in Abuja.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the police also confirmed that six persons were injured, with 50 houses razed, ‘eighty six (86) persons all together were killed, fifty (50) houses burnt, fifteen (15) motorcycles burnt down; two (2) motor vehicles burnt down,” the police said in a statement by its spokesperson in Plateau, Terna Tyopev. But the locals had insisted the death toll had hit the roof, saying there were over 200 deaths.

Tensions between the state’s primarily Christian farming community and the mainly Muslim herdsmen have often spilled over into violence in recent years. The six villages attacked by the assailants are Xlands, Gindin Akwati, Ruku, Nhgar, Kura Falls and Kakuruk, all in Gashish.

As a result of the attacks, land grabbing became a common feature; something many have described rightly as a planned agenda by the attackers to take over ancestral lands of the people being attacked and killed. During the Gashish attack where several heads were severed from communities’ members, that thread became apparent. Those who made attempts to return home after staying at internally displaced peoples ‘centers scattered across the state, got the shocked of their lives.

Those who were lucky returned with different tales of woes. They found that the enemy has become the landlord of what for years have become their ancestral homes. They could no longer find their abodes accommodating any longer. The deal had been carried out in such manner as to send them away. The voices against the development later took vociferous turns; many read the handwriting on the wall.

On a visit to the state early in the first tenure of the Lalong administration, the Vice President had pledged an assistance to help cushion the plight of those who went through the trauma with a whopping ten billion naira. Since the promise was made, the state has waited too long without being attended to. The lands taken over are now occupied by the strangers who invaded those communities; and any attempt to return was not contemplated.

Like many,  yours sincerely that even the House of Representatives has appealed to the federal government to redeem its earlier pledge of N10 billion for the resettlement of victims of Plateau attacks, and to also extend similar privileges accorded to victims of crises in the north-east and other parts of the country.

Only this week, owing to the danger of the silence of the government at the federal level; the House mandated the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant humanitarian agencies to, as matter of urgency, provide relief materials to the victims of the attacks, in order to assuage the sufferings of survivors. In many states; but particularly here, I am not certain anyone remember is when last the ministry brought to the state such relief materials.

The resolutions reached by the House were sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by the Chairman House Committee on Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi. Truly, while they were on their recess, a lot of ugly events bordering on the state of security of the people occurred; and scores of lives were lost with farmlands and property worth hundreds of millions destroyed in various communities in Jos, Plateau State.

The House being aware that these barbaric killings have caused a serious breach of peace in some parts of Jos and the said communities have no voice in the parliament to air their grievances, following the death of their representative, Hon. Maitala Haruna, who died in an accident on April 2, 2021.

As a result of the myriads of genuine concerns for the need to get these grabbed lands back, after several other attacks which led to further losses of lives. The state government knew there was the need to get things sorted out and return peace to the communities; but more importantly secure the lands forcefully taken over from the natives.

The time to act has come: If anything, it is a development that inhibits peace and hampers the struggle to ensure that justice is given a voice to settle amongst the people. That is why we are quick to add that Governor Simon Lalong’s setting up a Special Task Force against land grabbing as part of his administration’s peace initiatives in the state is welcomed. One is aware that there are voices that think otherwise on the modalities behind it. They are right to think in that line; for a people without an identity cannot be complete. We shall ask certain question in an attempt to establish why there is need to provide a ground that gives the victims sufficient reason to be part of the search for genuine peace.

The governor had told the world: “I have just set up a special task force against land grabbing. If you know your land has been grabbed, just report to them and they will move in to reclaim your land and give it back you.

“It is unfortunate that in recent times, some politicians have taken pride in trying to incite the youths against the government by insinuating that the governor or the government does not care about the people, or is allowing land belonging to Plateau indigenes to be grabbed by foreign herders.

‘This is an apparent lie that has no basis in the face of facts. Contrary to this mischief, our government is the first in the history of Plateau State and one of the few if not the only one in Nigeria, to sign anti-land grabbing law which we initiated as an Executive Bill.

‘The anti-kidnapping, anti-land grabbing, cultism and other violence related matters law are due because of the increase in kidnapping and other violent crimes in the state. As a responsible government, we cannot fold our arms and watch our people terrorised by criminals, who are clearly out to cause mayhem. This law will deal with anyone caught in the act and I urge security agencies to be on their toes and ensure that culprits are apprehended and made to face the law’.

What I have always maintained and being reiterated by the governor is that ‘our communities must rise to the challenge by identifying and fishing out criminals in their domains’. And to do so, we must ensure that we pass relevant information to security agencies to act’. To fish out bad eggs and criminal elements living in communities, recently, 592 Community Police Constables, recently trained by the government.

While it is not out of place to concede certain things government has done, I thought we must take time to ask questions in regard to those pieces of lands taken over by the invading army. Whose lands are they; the victim or those who invaded and took possession of them? Should forceful takeover of lands by a foreign enemy be acquiescence by the natives that all will be well? Should the nature and character of the attackers not be ascertained in order to lead the state to knowing why the invasion took place and the subsequent taking of the lands? Is the position of asking the natives to go to court not akin to a man being forced out of a marriage and demanding that he should go to court for the judge to give him justice?

Honestly, there are several questions that need to be answered; however, to dwell on them without providing a leeway is to imagine that this government does not want to solve the issue. It cannot be so as we are aware that there is no government that would sit and imagine all will be well after its communities have been ransacked and people killed with property destroyed in unquantifiable measure. You and I are aware that a mobile police barracks through the struggles of this government is supposed to have been established at Gashish. The state is still waiting for the federal authorities; and it won’t be out of place to find out what has brought the delay.

A lot has happened going by the spate of attacks witnessed in Plateau. There is much more that can be done to assuage the feelings of the natives. Apart from the numerous dialogue sessions with government along with the factions involved; what we do not see are the faces of the attackers at those meetings. It portends a lot of danger in the face of the determination to rid the communities of killers; be they foreign or local.

The need to get things sorted out must include asking why certain lands taken over were renamed. They are names that largely take over the original names to be represented by new ones which are religiously inclined, while mentioning a few of them to buttress our conviction of the plan to take over the lands invaded: From Rankum to Mahanga, Fass to Tafawa and Wereh to Luggare.

The duty to save the natives from their pains and the present danger cannot be treated lightly. What should be done must give them reason to believe that there is justice in the land and those who deserve it have to be given.