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| Gov Lalong |
PLATEAU BLOODBATH: PDP ASKS LALONG TO RESIGN
By
Joseph A Adudu
26
June, 2018
The Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Plateau State chapter insists that the Simon Bako
Lalong Government has failed in its constitutional responsibility of protecting
lives and property and should therefore, step aside.
Addressing members
of the media this afternoon, the Plateau State Chairman of the party, Hon.
Damishi Sango said that the party had it on good authority about a week to
Sallah of intelligence reports indicating that there were plans to attack
communities in Plateau State immediately after Sallah which, he said, came to
pass when on Saturday and Sunday, June 23rd and 24th,
2018, terrorists laid siege on communities in Gashish, Razak, Ruku, Soi, Ngar,
Gana-Ropp, all in Barkin Ladi Local Government and Shonong in Riyom Local
Government, leaving on their trail over 200 dead persons and several injured
including women and children and properties destroyed.
He said that the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) states very
clearly that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary
purpose of government, and the participation by people in their government
shall be ensured in accordance with the provision of this constitution.”
Sango said that the
implication of the above provision is that any government that does not provide
security and welfare for the people has failed and should vacate its office. “This
is the case with the present government in the state”, he added.
Sango said that to
further confirm the failure of the Lalong government, a single arrest is yet to
be made 48 hours after the killings, which he said leaves room for suspicion of
complicity, stressing that the most painful of it all is that the government
keeps referring to the mayhem as “Fulani/farmers clash”.
The chairman further
expressed concern about the fact that in the face of these dastardly acts,
attempts have been made, and are still being made, to cover up the carnage that
took place in these communities.
He said: “We are
aware that attempts to recover the corpses through the support of the
Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command, were made with heavy resistance
from those who are meant to protect lives and property. The saddest thing is
that following the denial of access to points where people were gruesomely
murdered, human bodies are being left to rot in the bush. As I address you,
corpses are still being recovered. Just yesterday afternoon, bodies of two
clergymen, one a Baptist Pastor and the other, a COCIN Pastor were recovered at
Ngar village of Gashish.”
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| Hon Sango addressing Journalists in Jos today |
Continuing, the
chairman said: “Those of you who have been following media reports are
conversant with deliberate attempts to suppress the truths. While they insisted
that only 11 (eleven) people were killed, further reports later indicated that
86 (eighty-six) people died in the attacks by the militia.
“We are sad to note
that those who gave the real situation report, even with pictures, are now
being hunted. Sad! We are worried that some people have been considered a
special race to be allowed to carry modern and sophisticated weapons to unleash
mayhem on innocent locals with impunity, while those who attempt to act in self
defence are arrested,” he said.
Sango said that the
party further finds it disturbing that even with the curfew on, some people
were seen moving in the wee hours in disobedience to it, and asked
rhetorically, “How do you fault General T. Y. Danjuma’s position that
people/communities should rise in self-defence?”
He said: “We are
worried that Governor Lalong, in declaring the curfew, left out Jos North and
Bassa LGAs where flashpoints exist. From past experiences, we have noted that
while some people were kept indoors under curfew, others were left marauding.
“Confirmed reports
have it that last night there were attacks at Dyemburuk (DogoNahawa) where 2
(two) people were killed and Dorowa where all church buildings were razed down.
Reports further confirm that right now women and children are still stranded
and waiting to be evacuated in Dorowa.”
The former Sports
Minister also condemned the Presidency for trivializing what he called ongoing
acts of terrorism by reducing it to the activities of politicians. According to
him, it is already public knowledge that the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo
was in the state yesterday on a condolence visit, stressing that while the
Presidency may be genuine in its intention to ask the Vice-President to come,
and also expressed the party’s high regards for the person and office of the
Vice-President, said that the party was concerned that apart from the two-day
official visit to the state which the party chairman said was due to pressure
from Governor Lalong to attract attention, President Buhari does not seem to
identify with the good people of Plateau State and their travails. .
According to him,
“It is on record that following the flood incident in Bauchi, he (the
President) did not only send his Education Minister there, but personally
followed the next day where he sobbed as he shared in the pains of the victims.
It is lamentable that President Buhari does not consider the loss of precious
lives numbering over 200 sufficient reasons for him to come over to Plateau
State to offer condolences to the good people of Barkin Ladi and the entire
State.
Sango said that it
was a known fact that Plateau State has known no peace in the past two years as
parts of Bassa, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos have remained under siege without
any abetment, but that what the Lalong-led administration has consistently told
the world was that peace was the best thing that has happened to the people and
the land since its inauguration
The PDP condemned in
the strongest terms the pogroms in Plateau State and other parts of the country
and condoled with families and communities of those killed in cold blood. The
party also mourned along with the people of Barkin Ladi, Riyom and the entire
state and called on the federal government to intervene immediately by
resettling the affected communities through the reclamation of lost grounds,
rebuilding of their houses and ensuring their safety.
In addition, the PDP
called on the people of the state to remain calm and eschew violence even in
the face of pains.
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