By Ogochukwu Isioma
At least, 346 persons have been reportedly killed within three months in eight Local Government Areas in Plateau State, a human rights organisations, Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, has said.
The organisation said out of the number, over 200 lives have been lost to sustained violent attacks in Mangu LGA alone as at Saturday, July 8 2023, adding that it’s laying foundation for a full-blown nationwide terrorism.
The Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation, Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, who gave the figure in the report obtained by journalists in Abuja, said that in the killings which took place between April 17- July 10, 2023, there were currently about 18,751 Internally Displaced Persons in 14 camps in Plateau State.
Para-Mallam, a peace advocate said that 17 people were killed in Bokkos, Mangu 234; Barkin Ladi 39; Riyom 36; Jos North 5; Jos North 9; Mikang 5 and Bassa 01.
He said 14 IDP camps are hosted by the Church of Christ in Nations Local Church Councils, adding that a breakdown of the IDPs shows: 2,081 widows, 6,066 Orphans between the ages of 0-5 years old.
The activist added that old people account for 1,057 old aged persons while teenagers and adult orphans are 828.
He said a total of 6,603 households are currently affected by these deadly attacks.
While stressing that the current harvest of deaths in Mangu LGA must be treated with the utmost urgency it deserved, Para-Mallam said the inaction by the Federal Government to tame the killings suggested looking the other way while the current inhumanity continued.
He said, “Take it or leave it, a foundation to full blown nation-wide terrorism is being laid. No country should localize and allow acts of terror on its citizens. Whatever the motivation behind these attacks on the Plateau, the fact remains – people are being killed in their hundreds.
“The burden of these killings should not rest only on the shoulders of the new Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Muftwang. The burden should not also rest only on the shoulders of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In fact, the burden rests on the shoulders of all Nigerians. The MDAs have a role to play in the search for peace and so also Miyetti Allah in seeking an end to the killings and finding ways to save lives and property.
“There is wisdom in collective action devoid of finger pointing or political calculations. The lives of all the citizens of Mangu LGA residents matters.
“What is happening in Plateau State has impact on Nigeria. What more, what is happening in Nigeria has global consequences in the medium and long-run. It is time to act and stop localizing Plateau’s killings fields. The time to put an end to violence in Plateau State and Nigeria is now.”
