The recent attack in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State North Central Nigeria where 50 people were allegedly killed and several wounded, with as many displaced, after the barbaric attack on innocent citizens, is one assault too many. The ugly development and condemnable atrocities demand that government should, as a matter of urgency, restrategise and revamp its security architecture to check the unrestrained massacre on the Plateau and other parts of the north.
Those behind the killings across the land must be apprehended and made to face the law, accordingly. The people have had enough of rhetorics and promises that appear not to change anything. The recurring attacks and killings of innocent people almost everywhere in the country, now a daily occurrence, underscore the need to renew the fighting spirit against the terrorists and their sponsors. Surprisingly, it is when elections are drawing near in the country that the intensity and frequency of such mindless attacks increases for whose benefits, no one knows! In the case of the killings in Plateau State, where the attackers operated freely and disappeared into thin air, there is more to it.
The government must go after those who committed this heinous crime. They are not spirits, and those caught should be paraded on national television for Nigerians to see them. The Governor of the State, Mr. Caleb Muftwang, in a television interview granted Channels Television, pointedly stated that some disgruntled politicians in the state are not helping matters on the security challenge that Plateau is facing, but rather are trying hard to politicise the ugly development. He however, reiterated the call for state police, insisting that, is the only way the frequent attacks on the people in the Plateau could be mitigated and tackled once and for all.
The attacks on the Plateau have lingered for over 20 years with hundreds of lives lost, and properties worth several billions of naira destroyed. Therefore, there is need for the federal government to heed the calls of Nigerians for state police since that is what the people want, and also considering the fact that, those who are waging this war against the country, whatever is their motive, are not relenting, but instead, have become very daring. The cry of the innocents; women and children must not be ignored anymore. The people are helpless and should be protected.
Apart from the Plateau, other parts of the country are equally suffering from the same fate. Recently, Governor Zulum of Borno State cried out also that he is losing parts of the state territory to terrorists. The country has lost counts of those whose lives were cut short owing to terrorist attacks; happening almost everywhere in the country. In fact, it’s only the South West that is relatively safe. Other parts of the country have been taken over by those who camp in the bush, armed and are ready to unleash mayhem at any time. These people freely attack their victims because they know the people are not armed.
The faceless terrorists are there, everywhere, so also the unknown gunmen that are operating unhindered, collecting huge ransoms and also killing those whose family members could not meet deadline for their release. A statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Tukur Muhammed Baba, asked the federal government to declare a state of emergency in vulnerable and banditry prone communities for prompt action, and to also save the lives of people who appear to be at risk always. The statement went further to say, the people are in great pains with their situation compounded by existential economic challenges. Granted that the federal government has reiterated its commitment to safeguard Nigerians, but the fact that terror attacks and all forms of criminality take place almost on daily basis across the country makes mockery of such promises. Therefore, we call on the government to rejig its security architecture if the country must survive this perilous time in her history.
It is instructive to know that the so-called investment drive into the country which the federal government says it’s facilitating may not add up if security issues plaguing the country remain unresolved. Frequent terror attacks in the plateau and other parts of the country can no longer be handled with words of mouth, rather decisive and immediate actions should be taken against these enemies of the state; unless some state actors and the highly placed in the society have a hand in this whole confusion of killings, which is against man and God. Let those whose duties it is to protect and guard the society wake up from their slumber. The situation is dire. Allowing it to fester more than this portends grave danger for all of us!
