President Goodluck Jonathan
Seriki Adinoyi in Jos and Muhammad Bello in Abuja
•State govt extends curfew in four LGs, declares two days of mourning
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday summoned an emergency meeting of
his security chiefs to discuss last weekend’s ethnic-fueled violence in
Plateau State that has claimed over 100 lives.
Sources said the president, worried by the renewed violence in the
state in the wake of his efforts to tackle headlong the insecurity in
the North, met with his security team to review the situation and chart a
new course on tackling the worsening internecine conflict in the state.
Senator Gyang Dantong, representing Plateau North and the Majority
Leader, Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. James Gyang Fulani, were
killed on Sunday when gunmen, suspected to be of Fulani ethnic stock,
attacked a funeral in Matse, Riyom Local Government Area of the state.
Besides, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Simon Mwadkwon,
and Chairman of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Mr. Emmanuel Lomang,
cheated death during the attack.
They were all in Matse for the mass burial for victims of Saturday's
massacre in Gashish, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area and Riyom, in
Riyom Local Government Area of the state.
The fresh attacks had prompted the state government to declare a
dusk-to-dawn curfew, which was extended yesterday from 7 pm to noon
instead of from 7 pm to 7 am.
Senate President David Mark, who was also in the state, decried the
killings, saying with them, there is an urgent need to find a lasting
solution to the conflict in the state.
Although details of discussion at the security meeting held at the
State House were sketchy last night, it was gathered that the meeting
caught many of the service chiefs and other participants unawares.
For example, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin,
and the acting Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar,
who were on an on-the-spot assessment visit to the scenes of the
weekend’s killings in the state, had to cut short their tour of the area
to attend the security meeting.
Petinrin and Abubakar, who were earlier billed to visit the state
governor, Chief Jonah Jang, had to send word back to the governor that
they would not be able to do so anymore as they had to attend the
security meeting in Abuja.
On arrival at the airport, they were said to have headed straight to Barkin Ladi from where they returned to Abuja.
In addition to Petinrin and Abubakar, others who attended the meeting
included Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada; Minister
of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade; Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro;
National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd); Chief of Army
Staff, Lt-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral
Ola Ibrahim; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Umar; and the
Director-General, State Security Service, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong.
However, after three hours, the participants tactically rebuffed
enquiries from State House reporters on what transpired at the meeting.
Notwithstanding their refusal to open up, THISDAY gathered that the
president was visibly unsatisfied with the development in Plateau
despite his recent reshuffle of the nation’s security architecture.
Presidency sources said the meeting expressed concern that the Plateau
conflict was assuming a dangerous dimension and urgent steps should be
taken to remedy the situation.
The meeting accused some Islamic sects in Niger and Chad of abetting
the attacks, noting that given the range of sophisticated weapons in the
possession of the attackers, there was no way they could have possessed
the means to buy them.
The meeting, sources said, agreed to step up security in the state and
encouraged the NSA to continue with his ongoing visits to Northern
political and traditional leaders, with a view to paving the way for a
rapprochement between the feuding parties.
On Sunday night, Jonathan had ordered the head of the security agencies
to produce the perpetrators of the violence and bring them to justice.
The president, through his spokesperson, Dr. Reuben Abati, had ordered
that all the relevant security agencies must ensure that all those
involved in the killing are brought to book.
The state government yesterday also extended the curfew earlier imposed
on the four local government areas Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi
and Riyom – by five hours, which caught many residents who had left
their homes early in the morning unawares.
Jang, who in a state broadcast described the Sunday killings as one
calamity too many in the heightened attacks against the innocent and
unarmed citizens of Plateau State, called for urgent steps to end the
conflict in Plateau.
According to him, security reports showed that the funeral procession
for people that were earlier attacked and killed was also attacked by
gunmen from the surrounding hills, adding: “I am sad to announce that in
that circumstances two of our lawmakers, distinguished Senator Gyang
Dantong, representing Plateau North in the Senate and Hon. Gyang Fulani,
representing Barkin Ladi in the Plateau State House of Assembly, lost
their lives.”
He described the attack on a funeral procession as the “highest level
of desecration of human dignity,” adding that there was an attack the
previous day which resulted in dozens of casualties and a follow up
attack the following day on mourners, who were not allowed to bury their
dead.
“This gives us an insight into a depravity that is beyond ordinary
human comprehension and acceptance. Today, several weeks and months
before now, Northern Nigeria and indeed Plateau State have witnessed
deadly challenges to the people’s way of life, threatening our national
security.
“The guns and machetes that have dealt a heavy blow to the lives of
innocent victims in our villages and cities say a lot about the threat
to our collective security.
“This threat on ordinary, defenceless citizens is today a common danger to the people of Plateau State and Nigeria,” he added.
He said the perpetrators of the attacks had shown that they were
willing to resort to the killing of children, women and the elderly and
to embark on poisonous propaganda to bring Nigeria on its knees, using
ethnic and religious forms of mobilisation.
“The attacks are clearly a declaration of war on Plateau State,
orchestrated through well-trained militants who are not willing to live
and let live, but to establish a terrorist base on the high grounds and
hills of the Plateau.
“This destructive work even under a federal-imposed state of emergency
has reached a climax with the unfortunate death of a senator of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria and a member of the Plateau State House of
Assembly, among several other innocent citizens.
“Plateau State is not only a state undergoing the torment of external
aggression, it is also a symbol of the unity of Nigeria. It stands for
rights and justice against all forms of oppression. We all must stand in
defence of these principles as a nation,” Jang said.
He observed that it was under the prevailing circumstances, the state
government after due consultation with the security agencies, imposed
the curfew on the local government areas till further notice.
He also declared yesterday and today work-free days for solemn prayers
for the peace and security of Plateau State and the nation at large.
Mark, who also visited Plateau, decried the wanton killings in the
state, stating that with the latest incident, the crisis had reached a
climax.
The senate president, who spoke when he paid a condolence visit to Jang
at the Government House, expressed his belief that with the death of
Dantong and Fulani, the ceaseless and meaningless killings in the state
would soon end.
“The deaths of Dantong and Fulani are unfortunate and regrettable and
we only hope that with their death, the crisis in the state has reached
its peak and must end.
“I have always said that we can resolve this crisis through dialogue
and I hope that those concerned will now embrace dialogue so that we can
achieve lasting peace,” he said.
Jang, who received Mark and his entourage, said he had always alerted
the Federal Government about the presence of terrorists in the state and
expressed regret that his cries had been ignored.
Mark also visited the homes of Dantong and Fulani, both located in the
Rayfield area of Jos, where he condoled with their families.
