Plateau killing: Need for caution and concern
The killing of travellers going from Basawa in Zaria, for a wedding in Qua’an-Pan, in Mangu Local Government in Plateau State penultimate week is disgusting as well as worrisome not only to the people of Plateau State especially Muslims, but also to peace loving ones, including Christian faithfuls across the state and the nation as […]
The killing of travellers going from Basawa in Zaria, for a wedding in Qua’an-Pan, in Mangu Local Government in Plateau State penultimate week is disgusting as well as worrisome not only to the people of Plateau State especially Muslims, but also to peace loving ones, including Christian faithfuls across the state and the nation as a whole.
It has become a routine for the indigenous Christians in Plateau State to always barricade the road whenever there is a conflict between the Fulani herders and the ethnic nationalities, who barricade the roads and attack people as a reprisal.
This is what is happening now in the state whenever the ethnic nationalities conflict with the herders, who are mostly Fulanis. If this is not nipped in the bud in no distant future, it will spread to other places or areas inhabited by Muslims, who will seize the opportunity to attack the Christians passing through their towns as reprisal.
It’s, therefore, imperative for the government at the federal level and the security agencies to be proactive in curtailing the unwanted killing of innocent persons in Plateau State before it’s too late.
I remember in my class at Saint Andrew Primary School of 30 pupils, we were only five who were Muslims, and we got along well with our classmates, who were Christians. During that time, we didn’t know the religious differences now rearing their ugly head in all spheres of life. It’s now that I realised the fact that the decision taken by my late father, Garba Santuraki, in 1975 to go back to Jimeta-Yola after retiring from the Livestock Investigation Centre, Vom was not a mistake.
Today, in the whole of Vom Vet and Vom hospital, there is not a single Muslim residing in the town except a few who are in the quarters of the National Veterinary Research Institute.
The same pattern of killing took place some few years ago right inside the tin City of Jos along Gada Biyu-Rukuba Road when Muslims who went to Bauchi heading to Ondo after visiting Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi were stopped in their five buses and killed based on a reprisal attack. It took the intervention of Islamic clerics as well as the Muslim umma across the country to calm the situation from escalating to other parts.
Exactly seven years ago, the same pattern of killing took place in Dura-Du of Jos South on 30/09/2018, when General Idris Mohammed Alkali (rtd), who left Abuja enroute Bauchi, was killed, and both his body and his car were dumped inside a pond.
To date, nothing has been heard about the culprits who were apprehended by the police and were charged to court. Lack of taking concrete action on the perpetrators of this heinous crimes emboldens others.
Plateau State government should go beyond fire brigade responses and confront the root causes of the conflict, which has lingered for decades and claimed thousands of lives.
The Supreme Council for Shariah has condemned the brutal killing of the travellers. Even the chairman of the northern governors, Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, of Gombe State, has condemned what was done in Plateau State, saying the perpetrators of the crime must be arrested and brought to justice without delay.
It’s imperative to take the necessary action to stop this heinous act from happening anywhere else in Plateau State. A stitch in time saves nine.
Usman Santuraki Beti wrote from Demsawo, Jimeta-Yola, Adamawa State