Open letter to Rep Jos North/Bassa fed. constituency
I am a Nigerian citizen who lives and has his law office domiciled within your constituency. If you had a functional constituency office or had regular town hall meetings, I would have sent this letter directly to your office or voiced it out at such a meeting. Seeing however the impracticality of the above, I am […]
I am a Nigerian citizen who lives and has his law office domiciled within your constituency. If you had a functional constituency office or had regular town hall meetings, I would have sent this letter directly to your office or voiced it out at such a meeting. Seeing however the impracticality of the above, I am constrained to put it out here with the hope that your aides and or those who wish you well will draw your attention to this letter.
You may be aware that on 19/04/20 at about 6:30 pm, inhabitants of Angwan Magaji, in Kamaru village were attacked, and for more than two hours the assailants destroyed and pillaged without interruption. Four people were killed, 38 houses and 86 rooms destroyed. This orgy of violence has become a constant feature in and around your constituency and your decisive inaction has been deafening. It has made me really wonder, Sir, are you in the know of the dastardly on goings in communities you swore to lead and protect?
Sir, are you aware that from January 2020 till date, the record shows a total of 33 attack incidents in which 22 communities were affected, with some of them attacked more than once? During this time under review, 104 farms were destroyed and a total of 44 people were killed, and 15 injured and hospitalised? And this is just 4 months into 2020; let us not discuss the same statistics prior to 2020. It is a painful exercise.
As I write this letter, Ancha that was attacked a few days ago, is suffering the same fate again?
Are you aware that for no explanation, personnel of the OPSH were removed and one of your constituents (Moses Gata) that dared to speak his mind about the removal was subjected to a traumatic abuse of his mind and body? And Sir, note that he is not alone in being abused in this fashion.
Since you came back, after the COVID-19 downturn, apart from the perfunctory visit to the paramount ruler of the Irigwe Nation, did you bother to do follow up inquiries and have an interface with the OPSH leadership? Sir, if you have not, note that this is the kind of leadership that your people need at this time.
These deaths are not mere pockets of killings. These are individuals who are your constituents, irrespective of whether or not they voted for you overwhelmingly at the last elections. Night after night these helpless hapless people become statistics that swell the infamous stat sheet filled with numbers of new widows, widowers, orphans, IDPs and the community-less. Do you represent this people or you have an interest that is higher than the one they represent?
Sir, I read your statement published on 13/04/2020 in the Daily Nigerian where you alluded to what is happening in your constituency to be a clash or a dog fight between ethnic groups. Sir, you know exactly what it is. It is the destruction of the lives and the properties of your constituents almost on a daily basis. And the people need much more than rhetoric riddled with halfhearted half-truths and no clear path to making a historic change to the violent status quo that your constituency is synonymous with.
Sir, you have a choice to either throw yourself into the fray and make a difference or let your people keep dying while they keep hearing excuses from you. Bullets are killing them faster than the coronavirus is.
Sir, do not forget that those who voted for you against the tide of expectations must have had hopes that your ascension to the House of Representatives will yield something positive for them. As it is, most of them have gone underground and do not have answers to our questions.
Sir, you can choose to make sure that history and posterity are kind to your legacy; that is, if there will be any worth talking about after you are done with this tenure. The choice is yours, Sir.
Redzie D. Jugo, Black Palms Consult, Srarina Initiative for Peace Justice and Development (SIPJAD)