The House of Representatives Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, has blamed the continued attacks and killings in Plateau State on the failure of security agencies and political leaders to heed warnings of impending attacks.
Chinda, who also tagged the attacks and killings in Plateau on lingering communal rivalries, berated the security agencies and political leaders for what he described as an apparent unwillingness to identify the perpetrators and nip the violence in the state in the bud.
The Reps Minority Leader said this in a statement he signed in reaction to the Christmas Eve attacks and killing of over 100 persons in Plateau communities.
According to him, if the accounts of witnesses in the attacks are to be believed, what stands clear is the act of collusion and conspiracy in the bloodletting in the state.
He said, “The invasion of five communities and the killings of over seventy persons by unknown gunmen in Gashish and Ropp Districts of Barkin Ladi and Bokkos local government areas of Plateau State on Christmas Eve have raised national and global concerns about the security of persons in Nigeria, particularly the North Central region of Nigeria and murders that have gone 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 one thousand 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.
The reasons adduced by observers for the sad state of affairs which ranged from internecine fights between indigenes and settlers for natural resources to inter-ethnic rivalry ensuing between ethnic groups no longer appear plausible, in view of the increasing rates of attacks, sophistication of invasions of communities, and the anonymity of the perpetrators of the attacks.”
Chinda further said, “There is something about this anonymity which makes the murders of 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 and security forces to identify the 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. That no terrorist groups or bandits, which prominent state personages claim are responsible for the murders, have been apprehended and brought to account, indicates that there is more to see than meets the eye, even when the patterns of attacks, sophistication of organisation of attacks, precision of killings, and the stealth in which the murderers appear and disappear, point to capacities that are not spontaneously acquired.”
The lawmaker added, “It is easy to dismiss the attacks as sheer criminality. The growing fragmentation of the terrorist movements, the building of strategic ties by splinter terrorist groups breaking out, in apparent expansion beyond the northeast into the north-central region, and bandits relocating from Zamfara State, clearly suggest that criminality isn’t what’s at play. These terrorists appear to be pursuing an agenda.
“The point here is that the urgent matter of the expansion of insurgency should not get lost in the history of violence on the Plateau because communities being continuously sacked are continually occupied by the marauding terrorists.
“The murders on the Plateau have gone on for too long. Now is the time for the military forces to put their acts together and for the State Security Service to place a handle on our national intelligence.
“It is a crying shame that bandits, terrorists and criminals enter our communities and wreak violence without a single person arrested. The nation-state appears to be asleep or is colluding in the murders on the Plateau.
“We extend our condolences to the Government and People of Plateau State over the murders. We also call on the security agencies to up the game and try new techniques in tackling the problem, whilst we also urge NASS security committees to draw strength from sections 4, 88 and 89 of the Constitution and commence a proper and detailed investigation into the persistent murders and proffer legislative solutions to end same.”