The Middle-Belt Forum has accused Nigeria’s federal government and the security forces of complicity in the massacre of over 150 villagers in Plateau State on Sunday.
In a statement signed by the MBF president, Bitrus Pogu on Tuesday, the forum stated that the government has known the hideout from which the terrorists launch their attacks but have refused to take action, thereby leaving the innocent citizens in danger.
“Section 14(b) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, stipulates that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’
“Conversely the unrelenting massacre of our people in the Middle-Belt States particularly on Sunday on the Plateau has shown without any vestige of pessimism that the government and security forces are complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous ethnic nationalities who are not part of the Sokoto Caliphate.
“It is no longer news that the hideout from which these insurgents/terrorists launch their attacks on the States of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Southern Kaduna is known to Government and security forces for decades yet they have deliberately fortified this evil theatre from any destruction thus providing a safe haven for these terrorists to smuggle arms, train their mercenaries and unleash unimaginable terror on innocent citizens without any provocation whatsoever.
“Mahanga a forest which lies at the foot of the hills of Bokkos L.G.A. of Plateau State and borders Wamba L.G.A of Nasarawa State to the south, is the infamous launching ground of all attacks against our people in the last two decades and fully known to government and security forces.
“The complicity of the Government and security forces is that they have shielded this autonomous Fulani community which is known to house all manner of weapons including missiles that are used to destabilize the peaceful coexistence of the country without ever invading and uprooting them from the forest.
“This same tactic of nurturing and fortifying terrorist camps finds expression in the Mandara hills in Borno and Alagarno where the military moved the entire residents of over 11,000 people from Sabon Gari leaving the whole road between Biu and Dambua for the terrorists to operate freely even collecting tolls on the highway. This implicates the government of collusion with these armed non-State actors to kill and maim our people with the intent to eclipse our heritage and existence.”
Pogu also stated that the continuous attacks have also led to political suppression of the people of the middle belt, leaving them defenseless and vulnerable.
“Our resolve to confront headlong this abysmal and surreptitious extinction of our people is anchored on our quest for the liberation of Middle-Belt States from the oppressive and tyrannical manipulations of external forces that have retarded development in our region. We shall take the bull by the horn to defend our people as the last option left to us predicated on our land, our people and our heritage.
“It is pertinent to note that the divide and rule tactic over the years employed by our adversaries has accounted for the political subjugation of our people thereby limiting our access to economic power which concomitantly render us vulnerable and defenceless in the face of carefully orchestrated stratagems to eclipse our heritage and continued survival.
“The plight of Ethnic Nationalities in the States of Nasarawa, Gombe, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Kebbi, Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger, Kwara, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Kogi and Abuja (FCT), who are daily butchered like chickens ricochet the imbalance and unfairness of the northern oligarchy to our indigenous people of the Middle-Belt who are daily treated as lesser humans without dignity and worth which is an inherent endowment of God on all humanity.
“We shall never again accept the ignoble and inferior status imposed on our people by the caliphate and Nigerian government acting in connivance with security forces to drive us out of our ancestral homeland.
“This is in view of the fact that our forefathers who fought to keep this country united are warriors who deserve nothing but respect and honour.”
The MBF also called on the governors to take up the responsibility of protecting the lives of their citizens using the vigilantes in the communities under attacks, adding that ‘state police is the only option to secure the country from a full blown war’.
“Our governors should rise up to the responsibility of safeguarding lives of citizens through the maximum utilization of vigilantes in communities under attacks to stem the tide of these massacres since they lack autonomy over the military and police forces.
“In view of the helplessness of governors in the midst of these attacks, State police is the only option left to secure this country from a full-blown war as arms stockpile is on an alarming increase giving the ineffectiveness of government in guaranteeing the security of lives and property of Nigerians.
“The government should note that the occupation and renaming of communities by the Fulani after dislodging our people is part of the grand plan of the northern oligarchy to stamp our people out of their ancestral homeland which we will resist to the point of death without faltering.”
Chioma Kalu
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