The several Christmas Eve attacks on Plateau communities have been met with outrage and criticism; as of yesterday, the dead toll stood at 155.Monday Kassa, the chairman of the Bokkos local government area, informed reporters that "as of right now, our people are still in the bush searching for missing ones." Even though we have found more than 20 dead in the jungle today, the search is still ongoing. The local government of Bokkos has now claimed 125 lives.
Likewise, 30 people have died, not the 17 that had been previously reported, according to Danjuma Dakil, the chairman of the Barkin Ladi local government region. Additionally, he revealed that more than a thousand wounded individuals were taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
Amnesty International, a global watchdog, said Wednesday that the gunmen were able to operate freely for more than 48 hours and that they should be investigated in the most recent murder in Plateau.
The Nigerian authorities "must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed the horrific killing of over 140 people by gunmen across over 20 villages in Bokkos and parts of the Barkin-Ladi local government area of Plateau," the statement reads.
Additionally, it stated that "our investigation demonstrates that the gunmen were traveling from one village to another on a more than 48-hour rampage of killing and destruction." The shooters not only entered Barkin Ladi through Bokkos, where the killings began and continued for hours, but they also slaughtered dozens of people in the villages of Hurum, Daruwat, Maiyanga, and NTV.
Isa Sanusi, the director of Amnesty International Nigeria, called for President Bola Tinubu to "set up an impartial, independent, and effective panel to investigate the apparent failure of security agencies to halt the bloodshed" after the attack, saying that the killing was intolerable and that the villages' residents should be gathering the bodies of the dead and taking the injured to hospitals.
"Recently, deadly attacks on Plateau's rural areas have shown patterns that indicate the Nigerian authorities have abandoned these communities to the mercy of renegade gunmen." He said that many more lives may be lost if Nigerian authorities did not move quickly to stem the flow of violence. People's lives and livelihoods are being destroyed as a result of their inaction.
The international organization recalled President Tinubu's pledge to buck the unflattering trend from previous administrations, but it wasn't sure if that commitment had produced any real progress.
The inaction of the Federal Government to stop the killings by armed herdsmen in that geopolitical zone of the country, according to the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), has left the people of the region with no choice but to turn to self-help in order to defend themselves.
The MBF also made fun of the Federal Government for not taking decisive action against the armed marauders even though it was aware of their whereabouts and hiding place. Dr. Bitrus Pogu, the National President of MBF, claimed that the government's inability to defend citizens' lives and property amounted to its involvement in the situation.
Pogu states that "the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government," as stated in Section 14(b) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria's 1999 Constitution.
On the other hand, there is no room for doubt given the relentless slaughter of our people in the Middle-Belt States, especially on the Plateau recently, which has demonstrated the government's and the security forces' complicity in the ethnic cleansing of indigenous ethnic nationalities that are not a part of the Sokoto Caliphate.
It is well known that the government and security forces have known for decades that the terrorists' hideout, from which they launch their attacks on the states of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, and Southern Kaduna, is where these individuals train their mercenaries, smuggle weapons, and terrorize innocent people without any kind of provocation. Despite this, they have purposefully protected this evil theater from destruction.
Our mission to free the Middle-Belt states from the harsh and despotic manipulations of outside powers that have slowed regional development is the foundation of our will to tackle head-on this abhorrent and covert annihilation of our people. As the last resort available to us, we will seize the opportunity to protect our people on the basis of our land, people, and heritage.
Likewise, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) urged for a review of present military strategies and vehemently denounced the horrific attacks on multiple communities in the Plateau on Tuesday.
The forum claimed to have promptly responded to 36 distress calls from various locations in Plateau in the 48 hours leading up to Christmas, but in a statement released by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the forum expressed concern over the military's inability to stop the killings on Christmas eve.
This demonstrates the forum's mounting misgivings about the effectiveness and adequacy of the government's operational strategies. NEF urgently requests a thorough inquiry into the alleged security breakdown in light of this occurrence and the region's growing security issues.
In the meantime, President Tinubu has ordered security services to move in right away, search the entire area, and capture those responsible for the invasion that resulted in numerous deaths in the Plateau.
In a statement released on Tuesday by his spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, the President also ordered the prompt mobilization of relief funds for the injured and survivors of the heinous and barbaric attacks.
President Tinubu reminded Nigerians that these messengers of death, suffering, and grief would not evade justice while expressing his condolences to the Plateau government and people.
This comes after the violent attacks on Plateau communities were denounced by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday. The unpleasant episode was characterized by CAN President Archbishop Daniel Okoh as a direct attack on our common principles of peace and unity in a statement released in Abuja.
In addition to advising people to abstain from all forms of violence, Okoh asked security services to step up their efforts in gathering intelligence and making proactive interventions in order to prevent future instances of these heinous atrocities.
Likewise, the Nigerian Baptist Convention has denounced "the wanton slaughter of Christians and destruction of churches” committed by the Fulani militia in NTV, Dares, Yelwa, and Chirang. In these locations, a Baptist church was set on fire, resulting in the deaths of nine individuals, including the pastor, Solomon Gushe. Additionally, it was stated that the raging militias had killed 40 civilians in Chirang village.
Rev. Israel Adelani Akanji, the president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, expressed his sadness over the deaths and urged security services to apprehend those responsible.
Yesterday, Akanji asked President Tinubu to "provide necessary security to all Nigerians and bring an end to the wanton killings of Christians in the Northern part of the country," according to a statement made by Rev. Eben Durodola, Public Relations Officer.
He urged all Christians to wake up and help those who lost family members and those injured in the attack who are still receiving medical attention.
The statement claims that the Fulani militias chose this time to launch their attack—during the Christmas season, when people are feeling grateful to God for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.