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WE ARE TIRED OF BURYING OUR YOUNG ONES – PLATEAU YOUTHS CRY OUT AS GUNMEN KILL OVER 300, DISPLACE 50,000 OTHERS IN 90 DAYS
Following renewed waves of attacks across various communities in Plateau State by suspected Fulani militias, youth leaders have risen with one voice demanding an immediate end to the often unprovoked attacks and killings of their people.
In the last three months, well over 300 people, including young men, women, children, and the aged, have been slaughtered in various areas of the state
Some communities have been sacked, properties worth billions of naira destroyed, while over 50,000 people have been displaced, thereby becoming internally displaced persons in their state.
With the situation seemingly hopeless as the government and security agencies have not lived up to their responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of the citizens, the youths say they are now ready to take up the gauntlet and put a stop to the endless attacks and killings.
Over the past weekend, DAILY POST took time out to talk to some youth leaders in some of the affected communities, and their resolve was in one unmistakable voice: an immediate end to what they all describe as the senseless killing of their people.
Excerpts:
Comrade Dauda Dung (Youth Leader, Riyom LGA)
“We are tired of burying our young ones and we say enough is enough. On Friday, we buried 27 of our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and children who were killed by the Fulani militias in Jebbu Bindi community of Riyom local government area. As usual, nothing will be done by the government and security agencies.
“So far, no arrest has been made aside from the regular promises by the government and the military. How long are we going to continue like this? Are we going to fold our arms and wait till all our people are wiped out? We want the government to rise to its responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of the citizens of this state. Enough is enough!”
Barrister Solomon Dalyop (National President, Berom Youth Moulders)
“We will keep questioning the failure of security personnel to act, and we call on the government to respond urgently as these waves of attack are becoming a pattern around the state.
“We demand swift action in the interest of justice, equity, and fairness by identifying the attackers, locating them, and ensuring their arrest and prosecution.
“They are not spirits. They do not operate alone. There are sponsors behind them, and we believe they occupy positions of power. They are the ones enabling these crimes.
“We are tired of our government’s repeated reassurances that it is on top of the situation. We demand action. The government should not be on top of the situation; it should be inside it. Investigate, act, and produce results. Only then can we uncover the perpetrators, their collaborators, and their sponsors.
“The military, too, has been complicit. The attack in Jebbu Bindi happened very close to their outpost but despite frantic calls by the victims, the soldiers did not respond while the marauders had a field day slaughtering innocent and defenseless people. That was a clear dereliction of duty.
“It’s not that they’re too difficult to track, these people, if there is the political will to do so. There is no demonstration of resolve or sincerity. Otherwise, who is allowed to bear arms in this country? Yet these attackers wield sophisticated weapons and stockpiles of ammunition—enough to equip a battalion.”
Comrade Inusa Pankyes (Youth Leader, Mangu LGA)
“We, the youths of Mangu local government area of Plateau State, are calling on the government and security agencies to rise to their responsibility of protecting the people since they do not want us to protect ourselves.
“Any attempt by the youths to organize themselves and form vigilante groups to provide security for our communities, the police and military authorities will clamp down on us, arrest us, and charge us for illegal possession of arms even when we only carry bows and arrows.
“But the Fulani militants attack our people with sophisticated weapons yet none of them have been arrested. They have the backing of some top people either in government or the military.
“After every attack, the government and security agencies will call the youth leaders for a roundtable discussion, but we cannot continue to sit at the same table with people who are killing us.
“We cannot negotiate with bandits. We will not do that. If the government wants continued collaboration in peace and security efforts, justice must be done in all pending cases.
“Our youths and other community members are tired of these meetings. What have they achieved? More deaths, more destroyed villages, more displaced people.”
Micah Joshua (Youth Leader, Bokkos LGA)
“We want the terrorists dislodged. The government has the power. No one challenges the government—except God, who is supreme. Yet, some areas in Bokkos are still treated as occupied territories.
“Rather than being curtailed, these elements have continued to expand their territorial control, turning more communities on the Plateau into terrorist strongholds.
“We know what these people want, and they have repeatedly vowed that they want to occupy our fertile lands, but we, the youths, have resolved to resist them this time around.
“Since the government has refused to do what they are supposed to do, we will no longer sit back and watch as they invade our communities and kill our people like chickens.”
