Herdsmen terror: 75 killed, 13,726 were displaced in Plateau
The
Foundation said about 13,726 persons have been displaced from the communities
after the hoodlums burnt 489 houses during the attacks which occurred between
September 8 and October 17, 2017.
The
Executive Director of the foundation, Mark Lipdo, told the Media on Thursday in
Jos that the organisation had also obtained reports of attacks in Benue,
Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Delta states where victims
alleged that their attackers spoke Fulani and Hausa languages.
According to
him, more worrisome was the fact that most villages attacked were now being
deliberately occupied by Fulani people.
While
calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that military personnel were
deployed immediately in these areas, he also challenged the Federal Government
to ensure that the attackers were arrested and arraigned in court for justice
to be done.
Lipdo said,
“Another inhumane act has happened this time, the Irigwe people of Plateau
State are the targets. On October 15, 2017, 29 people were massacred in a
classroom under the military watch at Miango in the Bassa LGA of Plateau State.
Again, the perpetrators have not been arrested and justice has not been done in this situation.
“The Irigwe
people reported that between September 8, 2017 and October 17, 2017, in just
five weeks, two major communities of Irigwe land were attacked and sacked.
Seventy-five people were killed, 23 injured, 489 houses burnt and 13,726 people
out of a total population of 80,000 people were displaced.”
Lipdo said
the Stephanos Foundation was concerned that the Nigerian Army, with its
reputation as a renowned regional force, was not only unable to apprehend the
criminals but also admitted that troops were intimidated by the hoodlums.
“This
clearly is another threat of genocide, this time the Irigwe people are the
target. The government should also ensure that Fulani herdsmen are properly
disarmed,” he added.
The SF
demanded that the allegation of military complacency and connivance should be
investigated and officers involved court-martialed “for the already shattered
trust in the military to be rebuilt.”
Lipdo said,
“It appears that Nigerian security agencies don’t matter when it comes to
Fulani-related criminality. If these criminalities are left unattended, we fear
that it could also leave the entire Nigeria vulnerable to more attacks, even
from similar external forces.”
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