Ohanaeze flays Plateau massacre, Adegboruwa knocks Tinubu

This image grab made from an AFPTV video taken in Maiyanga village, in Bokkos local government, on December 27, 2023 shows families burying in a mass grave their relatives killed in deadly attacks conducted by armed groups in Nigeria’s central Plateau State. The death toll from a series of attacks on villages in central Nigeria has climbed to almost 200, local authorities said on December 27, 2023, as survivors began to bury the dead. Armed groups launched attacks between December 23, 2023 and December 26, 2023 in Nigeria’s Plateau State, a region plagued for several years by religious and ethnic tensions. Photo: AFP

• Mutfwang seeks special support for victims
• Stakeholder urges reshuffle of security apparatus on Plateau

Ohanaeze Ndigbo has condemned the gruesome murder of over 150 people in Plateau State by gunmen, just as human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa decried the killings.

A statement signed by National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Dr Chiedozie Ogbonnia, described the killing as brutish, cruel and barbaric.

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide received, with rude shock, the horrible news of the gruesome massacre of over 150 persons from some communities in the Barkin Ladi, Mangu and Bokkos local councils of Plateau by gunmen, on Tuesday, December 24, 2023.

“President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, was in his village, Attah, Ikeduru Local Council of Imo State for his Christmas holidays when he received the awful news. He qualified the killing of over 150 persons, burning of houses, indiscriminate shootings and displacing of residents as an orchestrated act of genocide, and wondered why, in this modern age and civilisation, Nigeria is still posting the brutish, cruel and barbaric news of mass killings of such magnitude.”

ON his part, Adegboruwa lamented that President Bola Tinubu’s government, since May 29, 2023, has failed Nigerians.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) lamented that since May 29, 2023 when the President took over the mantle of leadership, the fortunes of Nigerians had dwindled and life generally became uncertain and hellish.

“The verdict on the streets of Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Uyo, Onitsha, Gombe, Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Makurdi, Lokoja and indeed all parts of the country is that this particular government has failed Nigerians.

“Under and by virtue of section 14 (2) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” he said.

GOVERNOR Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau has called on the Federal Government to provide special support for victims of attacks in the state.

Mutfwang made the call, yesterday, when the Forum of Northern Senators paid him a condolence visit in Jos.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that gunmen, who attacked 25 villages, killed more than 100 persons, destroying 1,290 houses, farmlands and other properties worth millions in the onslaught.

Eighty-eight persons, who sustained injuries, are receiving treatment in various hospitals in the state.

The governor, who said the victims would need to return to their communities without delay, called on the Senate to include funds for the resettlement of the displaced in the 2024 budget before its passage.

MEANWHILE, a stakeholder in Plateau, Mrs Kacholom Solomon, has told Vice President Kashim Shettima to tell Tinubu that the Federal Government should overhaul all the security apparatus in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Mangu local councils where attacks by suspected Fulani militia have become the order of the day.

According to her, there is a compromise by some greedy men of the armed forces who mount road blocks.

She told The Guardian, yesterday, that some of the attackers had been identified, stressing that the information must not be swept under the carpet.

This is coming on the heels of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) describing the killings in the state as reprehensible, ungodly, satanic, totally unacceptable and condemnable.

On Wednesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima and Mutfwang visited Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by cruel attacks in Plateau.

Accompanied by National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, and top government officials, the leaders addressed the IDPs at Bokkos Mini Stadium, expressing sympathy to the people and government of Plateau. They assured that the Federal Government had initiated measures to bring the perpetrators to justice.