Olusegun Adeniyi
In a desperate call that can only exacerbate the security challenge in Plateau State, a member of the House of Representatives urged his traumatised constituents to defend themselves. On Monday, Hon. Dachung Bagos said that 19 people were killed within 24 hours last weekend in Jos South and Mangu local government areas of the state. “Hundreds have lost their lives since May 2023, and villagers can’t go to their farms, several displaced persons, lands taken over, farmlands destroyed”, said Bago who released the details (name and age) of the people killed in his federal constituency. “In the face of this kind of breakdown in the will and capacity of the government to protect the people and their communities, law-abiding citizens must organize to protect themselves”, he admonished.
While it is difficult to blame Bagos for asking his people to embrace what amounts to self-help given the breakdown of law and order in the area, his prescription offers no solution to the killings that have ethno-religious undertones and feed on ancient animosities. Sadly, officials of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Berom Youth Moulders continue to trade accusations on the spiral of violence that have left hundreds gruesomely murdered and maimed, communities razed, huge swarths of farmlands destroyed and thousands of cattle missing. Because we live in a nation where people suffer from collective amnesia, it is important to remind readers that this is not a new crisis in a region where identity has become a matter of life and death.
On 3rd September 2018, Major General Idris Alkali (rtd) disappeared while travelling to his farm in Bauchi from Abuja. The family alerted army headquarters. Acting on intelligence, the army narrowed its search to a pond in an abandoned mining pit in Dura–Du District, Jos South Local Government Area and brought in dredgers. On 29th September, they found Alkali’s black Toyota Corolla car, a customised white T-Shirt with Nigerian Army logo and his name inscribed on it as well as a pair of canvass shoe belonging to him. Eventually, the body of General Alkali was found in an abandoned well in Guchwet village of Shen district, Jos South Local Government Area of the state. But in searching the pond, the army also pulled out two additional vehicles, a Toyota bus reportedly declared missing with the driver three months earlier and a Rover car declared missing with its occupants since 2013. These of course were victims of barbaric killings whose families had searched in vain for their whereabouts.
An eye for eye, as the saying goes, makes the world go blind. But that is what is happening today in many parts of Benue, Plateau and a few other states in the Middle Belt where the people have been reduced to undertakers. Every day comes with multiple burials. When a society is in decline, as I wrote five years ago, people look for solutions where they do not exist. In Nigeria, identity politics has become the new form of expression. Therefore, we must locate this tragedy within the context of the tit-for-tat ethno-religious violence that has for years defined Jos and environs. We cannot continue to manipulate differences while trading hate yet expect peace or development.
I have on different occasions written as to how artificial differences are magnified and manipulated in Nigeria for sinister ends. That is not what obtains in some other African countries. Two weeks ago, I was in Sierra Leone for their presidential election. One of the things I learnt from that country is how identity politics on which most Nigerians tear themselves apart means nothing to their people. Even though 78 percent of Sierra Leoneans are Muslim, both President Julius Maada Bio and his rival, the main opposition candidate, Dr Samura Kamara are Christians! Even Bio’s immediate predecessor, Ernest Bai Koroma who was in power for 11 years is a Christian. I pray for such a time in Nigeria when the faith people profess or the ethnic group to which they belong would matter less than the ‘content of their character.’
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday expressed sadness and grief over the latest round of violence and killings in both Plateau and Benue States. “It is most unfortunate that in this orgy of violence, an innocent eight-month-old baby in Farin Lamba community of Vwang District, Jos South Local Government, died in a conflict she knew nothing about”, the president said. “A major consequence of perennial conflict is always the tragic loss of innocent lives. To build virile, peaceful, and prosperous communities demand tolerance and forgiveness for every perceived wrongdoing.”
The president is correct. But he must go beyond merely preaching. He should help facilitate a dialogue for peace in the region if we are to end the cycle of revenge killings that has claimed the lives of thousands in the two states. Eleven years ago, precisely on 8th July 2012, Senator Dantong Gyang Dalyop and Hon. Gyang Fulani, then Majority Leader of the Plateau State Assembly, were attending a mass funeral for dozens of their people killed in Barkin-Ladi local government area when a gang of gunmen invaded the burial ground, shooting in all directions. The two lawmakers did not survive the massacre that claimed dozens of lives. Following that tragedy, I wrote a column, ‘Fire from the Mountains…’
I leave readers with excerpts from that column as I urge President Tinubu to work with stakeholders in the Middle Belt region to end what has now become multilateral killings.
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It was bad enough that the victims were brutally massacred in their homes before one now considered the indignity of a mass burial. Unfortunately, it was at that emotionally vulnerable state at the scene of a multiple funeral that Senator Dantong Gyang Dalyop and others were callously ambushed in a second round of violence that ultimately consumed no fewer than 40 people. Given the nature of the crisis which led to that bloody madness, it would be very naïve of anybody to consider this as the end of a cycle of revenge that brought about the pogrom. And that is where the federal and state governments have now been left with a serious challenge which would require tact and commitment on the part of critical stakeholders.
All the political, traditional, and religious leaders in Plateau State who have substantial influence must join forces if we are not to witness an escalation of this tragedy. What happened at the weekend was almost like a scene from a horror movie. That explains why it is nothing but gratuitous insult for some people to be dwelling on the irrelevant fact that there were no gunshot wounds on (some of) the victims who were, to all intents and purposes, simply murdered. There is also need for a serious inquisition into the role of the security agencies at the scene of the tragedy to ascertain their level of professionalism in such a panicky environment.
While we commiserate with the families who lost loved ones, it is important for those who are already talking carelessly to understand that making divisive and incendiary statements at a time like this can only compound the situation. Whatever the grievances (real and imagined) by the contending parties, this is not an auspicious moment to air them. When the tears have dried and the pains have subsided, there definitely must be a revisit of several issues that are critical to finding lasting peace in the state.
The ethnic conflicts on the Plateau and the resultant political tensions that have been pervasive over the years arose principally because of the politicisation of accumulated grievances. And it is not helped by the ethnic-settler controversy that is founded on division and hate. This is an issue that has become a serious challenge not only in Plateau State but in several places across the nation. And until, and unless, we address it, we will never be able to build a united society.
It is not too late for a political negotiation that will put an end to the ethnic strife and bloodshed. For that to happen though, it is important for all critical stakeholders to rise to condemn this massacre, not rationalise or justify such cold-blooded mass murder. It is also important to avoid a reprisal that can only worsen an already bad situation. It is natural that at a time when emotions run high, reason will be at a very low ebb. Yet except the relevant authorities move in quickly, (and I am not talking of drafting in some military men who will run away at the sight of danger as happened last Sunday), there could be further acts of anger and retaliation between the contending parties. And this will be most unhelpful.
We must explore all the possibilities for peace, though that is contingent on not bringing in mercenaries who may exploit the situation to further their own nefarious agenda. The fear is that there may already be some tell-tale signs in that direction, and we know that without peaceful coexistence and tolerance, the city of Jos and indeed Plateau State, will be in perpetual conflict. Each side will keep trying to eliminate the other through what has become a bilateral genocide, to borrow a phrase coined in Rwanda. To therefore put the brakes on the violence, there is the need to checkmate all appeals to hate, force and guilt by association. I will recommend for the people a 75 second video clip which, in a different context, puts this issue in proper perspective: http://www.seedsofpeace.org/#.
At the end of the day, all the contending parties must come to the sober realization that they have only been losing lives, wealth and their peace of mind since the conflicts began. Their children are being wrongly socialized because their religious and cultural teachings about the sanctity of life are being cheerfully violated. The local economy has crashed and a land that was a haven of peace and agricultural productivity now exports only tales of man’s inhumanity to man.
The failure of our security agencies and whatever may be their current tactics for dealing with the challenge in Jos is also evident. It is particularly worrisome that no arrests are made after these killings, implying that there is probably no real grip on the situation. This only encourages what has become a national culture of impunity. As the nation therefore mourns the distinguished Senator and other victims of this tragedy, let the people of Plateau State embrace the legendary admonition of Ukpabi Asika: “Enough is enough”.
