Plateau Traditional Council said on Tuesday in Jos that the recurring attacks on the people of Plateau was a clear indication of a declaration of war on the state.Chairman of the Council and Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Gyang Buba, who led other traditional rulers, during a condolence visit to Gov. Jonah Jang over the recent killings in the state, lamented that the people were no longer secured in their homes.
He expressed sadness that the attackers came in undetected, killed the people and escaped without being apprehended by security personnel.
“We must be able to resolve as a country whether we are secured in our own country or not and if we feel we are not, then what steps are we taking collectively to handle this situation? It calls for a serious action to be taken.”
Buba requested for an all-stakeholders meeting so as to analyse the ugly incident with a view of passing the resolution to the federal government and to all Nigerians over the happenings in Plateau and others parts of the north.
The Gbong Gwom cautioned against allowing predictions about the country to come to pass, saying that there was strength in the continued co-existence of the country as one indivisible entity.
“Those who desire the unity of this country must ensure that we sit down and discuss what these issues are in sincerity and iron them out accordingly because we cannot continue to pretend that all is well with this country. All is definitely not well.
“We know that there are people who wish this country are (sic)apart but we must not through our actions or inactions, allow for such prophets of doom to have their way,
it will not augur well.”
Buba called for drastic measures to be taken against perpetrators of violence to ensure that generations to come inherited a united country that they can be proud of.
In his response, Jang regretted the weekend’s attacks did not only claim the lives of the ordinary citizens but a senator of the federal republic and a member of the House of Assembly.
“The crisis on the Plateau is beyond just people quarrelling among themselves as it has always been. We are now under attack from outside Plateau and the nation is under attack.
“From the attacks of last weekend, we see people coming in various military and police uniforms with bullet proof vests on them with heavy armour.
“We’ve never had this kind of strength of armour from these attacks like the one we had over the weekend. It is therefore clear to us that it is not just the ordinary Fulanis that have been careless of their cows eating the farmers farm produce.
“These (attackers) are people who have invaded us and they have entrenched themselves in some parts of the state. So they are virtually occupying our land on the Plateau,” he said.
Jang said that the assailants had come from outside the country as terrorists groups to terrorise the state and the country and called for concerted efforts to check the incident. The governor also called on other ethnic groups in the state not to see the attacks as Berom affair as it was spreading to Mangu and Bokkos while intelligence pointed out that there were planned attacks on the southern parts of the state.He called on the traditional rulers to caution the youth against unnecessary alcoholic consumption and organise them into vigilante groups so as to check the marauders.
