Ex-gov Jang says Plateau killers on cleansing agenda to take over people’s lands

Jonah Jang, former governor of Plateau State, has alleged that those behind the bloodletting in the state were on ethnic cleansing and conquest agenda.

This is as he reiterated the urgent need for the federal government to attend to the call for State police as a part of measures for boosting security, ensuring early response in crises and confronting the killings on the Plateau which seem to have gone on unabated as the non-arrest and prosecution of perpetrators have bolstered the serial killers to carry out more killings.

The former governor who commiserated with the families that lost loved ones during the Christmas Eve attack on communities in Bokkos, Mangu and Barkin Ladi Local government areas of Plateau State, added the incident grieves his heart.

Jang, in a statement issued on Saturday Conrad by Clinton Garuba, his Media Consultant noted, “This dastardly act has once again tampered with the peace of our dear State as it was orchestrated by people who are hell-bent on ensuring that the ordinary Plateau man does not enjoy the serenity God through nature has bestowed on him. Choosing to murder harmless villagers in their homes as they prepared to celebrate the yuletide is the most horrendous wickedness that anyone could imagine.

“None of the hundreds of our people who lost their lives in the Christmas Eve attack by marauding terrorists envisaged that their lives would be cut short in such a gruesome manner. Villagers in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Riyom and Mangu LGAs have continued to bear the brunt of terrorists who seem to have sworn to dispossess them of their heritage at all costs. That these killers are out on a cleansing agenda and plan to take over the lands of the people they try to wipe out is no longer hidden.

“As painful as these killings are, equally hard and painstaking efforts must be made to put an end to them to restore Plateau to its known peaceful atmosphere which made it home to many people, even in decades past. While we agree with the President that the culprits must be apprehended and made to face prosecution, we must note that these directives have been issued repeatedly. Yet, neither arrests nor prosecutions have been made in the past.

“It is therefore pertinent that at this point, there is the need to attend to the call for State police as part of measures for boosting security, ensuring early response in crises and confronting the challenges of insecurity headlong. A situation where State Governors have no powers to immediately deploy personnel to quell attacks and confront marauding terrorists is worrisome. The killings are getting out of hand and the State Police option is viable for nipping these massacres in the bud.”

He added that “States should be given the power to create, train and equip their police to enable State Governors to deal with peculiar security situations in their various states. More than ever, the time to heed the call for state policing is now. The National Assembly must take this call seriously and rise to the occasion, act in the interest of the Plateau people and consider the issue as a matter of urgent importance.

“While we commend the efforts of the Federal and Plateau State Governments in responding to the recent attacks, we reckon that more can be done to stop the seeming non-stop attacks and needless loss of the lives of innocent villagers who are murdered while in their sleep or as the struggle on their farms to eke a living for themselves. There is more that can be done, the endless killings are unacceptable, and our people must be allowed to stay in their homes, and continue to cultivate their farmlands without any intimidation or fear of unprovoked attacks which leave them homeless or decapitated.

“We call on the people to cooperate with the State Government which has shown commitment to ensuring the safety of Plateau citizens. The killings have assumed a dimension where inhumanity seems to have overtaken humanity but whatever the intentions and purposes of the terrorists, Plateau will survive, thrive and stand tall as the home of peace and tourism. May Plateau State succeed.”