•Father, son killed in fresh violence

•Defence minister leads Service chiefs to attacked villages

A chilling account of how communities were attacked in three local government areas of Plateau State was given on the floor of the Senate at the weekend.

Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) held the Red Chamber spellbound when he told his colleagues how almost 200 people were massacred by bandits.

According to him, the bandits deposited their arms at different points within the communities ahead of the attacks.

Ningi, chairman of the Northern Senators’ Caucus, said he got the details during his 72-hour visit to the state.

He met with Governor Caleb Mutfwang and visited hospitalised victims in Jos, the state capital.

He said: “The stories I heard about the attacks were mind-boggling.”

“I was in Bauchi for my Christmas break when the news broke and instantly, on behalf of the Northern Senators Forum, I moved into the Plateau.

“I had two sessions with the governor. What happened in Bokkos was unprecedented. The attack was by a catchment of bandits, over 400 of them moving at a go. The stories I heard were mind-boggling.

“First, there was a rumour of this attack. Second, the governor tried to make this information available but they didn’t take him seriously.

“I was at JUTH (Jos University Teaching Hospital) and you could see a three-month-old with a gunshot wound. Three months! Some were beheaded. This is unprecedented…

“What was discovered is that these marauding bandits were not moving with weapons. Those weapons were domiciled in certain locations.

“All they did was to come and pick them. That means there’s something behind what is happening in Plateau.

“Who are these people and why are they doing it? Because if you go there, you would think it’s a religious war.

“There’s something behind it that this Senate must unearth. It’s a very terrible phenomenon.

“The National Assembly members are shown the way out after four years and we even have a recall item in the Constitution.

“If you cannot deliver, our constituents will be asked to recall us and every four years we also go for elections.

“We can’t keep doing all these things all the time and no results. This insecurity is pervading the entire Northern atmosphere.”

Ningi spoke while seconding a motion by Senator Diket Plang (Plateau Central) on the Plateau mayhem.

The Senate ratified the motion with a resolution to summon the Service Chiefs.

Also to be invited are National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu; Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) Magaji Bichi; Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.

The Senate observed a minute silence and resolved to send a high-powered delegation to the state.

The Senate called on the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to direct its agencies and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide building materials to the victims with immediate effect to enable them to return home and decongest the IDP camps.

The Red Chamber also urged the IGP to complete the mobile police barracks in Barkin Ladi.

It urged the Chief of Defence Staff to establish a mobile military base in Kerang Village, in Mangu Local Government Area, which “is a border point and an entry route for the criminals who commit these barbaric acts and escape freely”.

The Senate further urged the military to deploy intelligence and aerial surveillance in the affected local government areas and their environs.

It also urged the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, “to immediately take action in putting a check on illegal miners and mining activities in the country, especially the crisis-prone regions.”

Additionally, the Senate urged the Plateau State Government to “strengthen its environmental mining laws to check the excesses of illegal miners in the state” as well as “to upscale dialogue between traditional and religious leaders, especially in the affected crisis areas, to find non-kinetic solutions towards curbing the crisis.”

It also resolved to issue such further directives as deemed expedient in the circumstance to ensure compliance with its resolutions.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the killings as a “very unfortunate, barbaric and terrible tragedy for Nigeria”.

He said it was “a black Christmas for the country because the level of killings was unprecedented and the number of villages affected simultaneously was also unprecedented”.

“It is very clear that these attacks were very well coordinated and therefore we believe there was failure of intelligence and failure of timely reaction and the Senate is taking this very seriously.”

Father, son, vigilante killed in fresh attack

Three persons were killed in the attack by assailants in Durbi village of Shere district, Jos East Local Government Area on Saturday night.

Transition Implementation Committee Chairman, Markus Nyam, said the attackers invaded the village and killed a father and his son.

Nyam also said a member of the vigilantes, who engaged the assailants, was killed as the attackers fled.

The Joint Security Task Force Operation Safe Haven personnel responded to the community’s distress call, preventing the attackers from causing more damage.

COAS: arrests made

Lt-Gen. Lagbaja said some suspects in the Christmas Eve killings have been arrested and that security agencies are on the trail of others.

He led other Service chiefs on visits to the communities at the weekend.

Addressing members of one of the attacked villages in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Gen. Lagbaja said: “Some people have been arrested. We will not reveal their names now because the investigation is still ongoing.

“We are still on the trail of some other people. We desire to round up everybody involved in this carnage in line with the directive of Mr President to ensure lasting peace in Plateau.”

He said the Federal Government was working to ensure that all the displaced persons returned home and that the communities were provided adequate security.

“We need your support as a people. We need the cooperation of the people to help the troops to succeed. Help us with information, and provide support to these troops.

“We are working towards ensuring all the displaced return to their ancestral homes as quickly as possible. Accept our condolences and our assurance that going forward this will not occur again,” Gen. Lagbaja said.

Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, accompanied by his Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation counterpart, Betta Edu, told Governor Mutfwang that the visit was on the directive of President Tinubu.

He said: “We are here on the directive of the President to commiserate with you and assure you of total commitment toward securing the lives and property of the people.

“I want to assure you that this incident will not occur again; these criminals will be crushed soon.”

Matawalle assured the governor that the humanitarian needs of the victims would be addressed.

“This is why the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs joined this delegation; she is expected to ascertain the humanitarian needs of the people,” he said.

A traditional ruler, Edward Bitrus, said it was the “saddest Christmas in all my 70 years in life”.

“We have been living peacefully in our community. I then wonder what led to these killings.

“Our children may not resume schools in January because the economic bases of the families have been razed by the attackers.

“Our investment in dry season farming has become a waste because the owners of the farms have been killed or displaced.

“Government must fish out these attackers so that victims will get justice,” he said.

Police deploy more men

Plateau Police Command said it has deployed more men to the troubled areas.

The spokesman, Alfred Alabo, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said in a statement: “As part of measures to protect lives and properties in the affected areas, the Commissioner of Police, Okoro Alawari, has placed a ban on all forms of late-night spiritual and social gathering in Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi, Riyom and Mangu Local Government Areas.”

Also, the Plateau State Tourism Corporation & organisers of the Jos Christmas Festival announced the cancellation of all remaining events at the Jos Christmas Festival. (The Nation)

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