CITIZENS of Plateau State last Saturday, came out en masse, calling on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to urgently assure them of proactive military actions that would repeal the terrorists that have been attacking their communities and secure their villages within 21 days or expect their collective and forceful move to reclaim their ancestral land.
This position came up when citizens converged at the Secretariat Junction, Jos, the state capital, expressing their sadness and bitterness at a world press conference tagged: “Plateau Prayer and Mourning Rally” led by the Convener of the Initiative for Better and Brighter Nigeria (IBBN), Prophet (Dr) Isa El-Buba.
Addressing journalists shortly after a heart rendering prayer session, the prophet said, “Today, we are mourning, but we will not continue to mourn any longer. This thing is not about Muslims or Christians, but an intentional plan by the enemy and let us call it as it is.
“Some Fulani militias and other militias have joined hands to wipe away our people from their ancestral land and take over. It is a simple act of terrorism and genocide. We want to state it clear today that we are here peacefully, demanding that the government must do what is right.
“All these years, they have been giving us political statements and political positions. This time, we are not taking any political press statements, but we want political actions. We want to take back the 100 communities that are right now occupied by these terrorists.
“We are asking the security forces and the Nigerian government led by President Tinubu, to make sure that those people are uprooted from these communities and restored back to their real owners. We are demanding and are giving you 21 days ultimatum, starting from today, to do what we are asking for.
“If they fail to do that, we, the city people, will gather here and demand that the right thing must be done. We, the citizens of Nigeria will not wait but take action. Enough is enough! We stand with the government of our state, Plateau State, to say together that we will fight this fight.
“Let it be clear that we demand of the President of Nigeria, that within 21 days, we want to see the military in action. Secondly, all of us the citizens, should stop behaving as if nothing is going on. What affects the villagers, affects us too, because food prices will go up. Farmers cannot farm again because some of them are being murdered and slaughtered.
“This time, we will join the villagers to secure them. So, I am asking all of you here that after 21 days, we are going to villages and rebuild our villages. To all of us that are here today, I want to tell you that, when you hear the next announcement, we are coming out as citizens. We will not stop until wickedness stops!”, he emphasised.
“On his part, a Muslim Cleric, Sheikh Umar Farouk, who also prayed for the soul of Plateau, called on President Tinubu and the Federal Government to urgently stop this injustice done to Plateau by ensuring that these terrorists were brought to book. “God, punish those killers squad who are enemy of the state”
There were series of worship song ministrations as citizens appeared in black and black to demonstrate how bitter they have been since the ugly incident that occurred on Christmas Eve. The representatives of youths groups, women groups, the CSOs and religious leaders spoke their minds in condemnation of the killings, respectively.
