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Jonah Jang And The Christian Terrorist Militia Of Plateau State Have Committed Ethnic Cleansing! They Should Face The Full Wrath Of The Law For The Society To Move Forward By Mahamman Adarawa.
It is more than a week now that people in Jos North have being piling, counting and burying their dead relatives hacked down by a Christian terrorist group wearing police uniforms. The reason for their slaughter is that they protested against local government election rigging by the PDP government of Jonah Jang. The PDP manipulated the election and illegally announced the result.
While the killings were going on and people were busy burying their relatives, the callous, sadistic and fascist Governor of Plateau state Jonah Jang wanted to swear in the new Local Government Chairmen but had to be stopped by his superiors from Abuja.
The biased newspapers of our country as well some individuals in position of authority wish to dismiss it as just a small political problem. I wondered what was working in their minds!
Ethno religious riots have unfortunately become a recurrent phenomenon in the North. Most of the time minor quarrels by individuals in schools, markets or the larger community spark such riots. Politics rarely sparks such riots because most Nigerians as individuals have become apathetic and genuine political mobilisation is lacking in Nigeria.
The security problems prevalent in Northern Nigeria include first, the arson on Igbo property during riots in Kano. The riots and accompanying arson are usually caused by unorganised hoodlums and thus easily controlled by security agencies. However, It is a significant cause of misery to its Igbo victims which is recognised and accepted by everyone. The riots have now abated with a relatively good government in Kano. The second security problem was the Tiv/Jukun crisis, which had stopped only in an undesirable way, when Danjuma and Obasanjo destroyed Zaki Biyam. Dialogue should have been used, but both sides behaved badly, the Tiv militia in particular exhibited their barbarity in the killing and disembowelling of the army personnel sent there.
The third security problem is the menace of armed robbers and occasionally bandits mainly in the far northern states bordering Niger and Chad republics. These bandits harass mainly villages and markets in Borno, Yobe, Katsina and Sokkoto states. Sometimes their criminal operations take them as far as Kaduna, Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe states. They harass people of all ethnic groups. People believe security agents know their activities but ignore them.
The fourth flashpoint is the security problem around Kaduna/ Kafanchan axis. It started with the Kafanchan massacres in the late 1980s followed by Zangon Kataf massacres. The apprehending and trial of Zamani Lekwot, the mastermind of the Zangon Kataf crisis led to abatement of the pogroms. However, it kept on recurring in Kaduna on/off, most of the time precipitated by mischievous politicians like Jerry Gana, who on behalf of the PDP decided to stage Miss World contest during Ramadan to cause communal tension in order to gain electoral advantages. It led to loss of lives and international embarrassment for Nigeria. Most of the contestants regretted the experience and were embarrassed to be escorted with police armoured vehicles.
The last but not the list is the perennial ethnic cleansing of Hausa and Muslims by a cabal of corrupt and decadent politicians in Plateau state supported by a Christian terrorist militia.
It started in Jos some time in 2001 with the appointment of a Hausa man as Director of a Federal Agency. The cabal whose perverted ideology is hatred of Hausas and Muslims in general opposed his appointment and when it was not reversed, the orchestrated the first genocide. This was followed by another genocide in 2004. The cabal promotes its community as “natives” while Hausas as “settlers”, which is irrational because those that call themselves “natives” have being hiding in the mountains since the days of Kwararafa Kingdom of the Jukuns and Queen Amina of Zazzau Kingdom. Fulani nomads have being grazing their cattle for many centuries in the valleys in the course of their transhumance and Hausa traders have also being traversing the Plateau for centuries to trade with other established kingdoms like the Kwararafa( one of the medieval Hausa states) to the East and Gara(Igala) , Benin and Yoruba kingdoms to the South. Thus, the Plateau area was part of Kwararafa and Zazzau Kingdoms at one point or the other in the medieval history of Hausa land. It fell under the emirate of Bauchi during the revolution of Usman Danfodio. Even the colonialist governed it as part of Bauchi province until many years later when it was carved out of Bauchi to become Plateau Province. Infact, it is ignorance of history that made this cabal, a bunch of poisonous tribalists, for if they were not ignorant, they would have known that no one in Plateau state should ever doubt the citizenship of a Hausa or Jukun, if he chooses Plateau as his home. In contemporary times, it is the Hausas who developed Jos city as a trading post when Tin mining begun with the arrival of the colonialists and missionaries. Later traders from other Nigerian ethnic groups joined in to develop Jos as a prosperous and multi ethnic city. They so called “natives” became confident and came down from the hills to enjoy peace and prosperity.
As if to show the world that they have not quenched their thirst for Hausa and Muslim blood, the cabal and their Christian terrorist militia again massacred people in Yelwan Shendam about three years ago. At that time the king pin of the cabal then, Joshua Dariye had run to London to stash his loot in Banks while Hausas were being massacred. It was impossible for even his party to cover it up as their usual tactics and a state of emergency was declared.
The current wave of ethnic cleansing followed the same pattern, but is even worse than that of Yelwan Shendam during the time of Dariye. The pogroms in Plateau state is unique compared to all other riots and arson in the North, because in the case of Plateau state the Governors and their officials are usually involved.
Jonah Jang decided to do this election at a wrong time when all security reports are against it. He then went ahead to orchestrate rigging in a local government where the opposition is popular. He and his party manipulated and announced a corrupted figure as election result. He ordered the police to shoot the people that protested election rigging. According to the victims and their relations, some unknown men in police uniform (Christian terrorist militia) entered houses, mosques and schools shooting people and schoolchildren. Even students in schools were not spared the killing. They burnt down business premises and property. In the thicket of the pandemonium, Jonah Jang revealed his true colours when he sadistically wanted to announce the result. The embarrassment from such irrationality and lack of empathy was so glaring that his masters in Abuja stopped him.
It is only in the Nigerian political culture, especially the PDP culture, where an irresponsible fascist like Jonah Jang who uses interviews to broadcast his hatred is allowed to contest an election. It was during his tenure as a military governor of former Gongola state that the Tigno-Waduku massacres happened. He visited the area and after he left, the killings started and there was no record of him taking active measures to stop it. In Benue state as a military governor, he humiliated and caused a lot of suffering to civil servants who complained about problems related to salaries. He was an ANPP candidate in the 2003 elections, but after losing it due to rigging, he decided to join the election riggers (PDP) just to become a Governor and then practice the same evil.
It is not enough for the President to refuse to see him or send all the security chiefs to Plateau state, a state of emergency should be declared again in Plateau state and Jonah Jang as well as the murderous Christian militia that orchestrated the ethnic cleansing should be tried for their crimes. Iam sure, if Jang had tried to overthrow Yar’aduwa’s Government he would not only shun welcoming him in Aso Rock but would try him for treason. What Jang did was more than treason; it was a crime against humanity. The case of Plateau state should be taken as seriously as the Niger Delta problem. They should station the army permanently in Jos North LG and other hot spots in the state to protect life and property. The FG should supply relief materials immediately, because the current Plateau state Government could not be trusted. They have shown that they are irresponsible and callous. The FG should take measures it self and see to it that the Plateau state government rehabilitate the living victims by rebuilding their houses, schools and businesses even if it means deducting from the Plateau state allocation from the FG. The FG should investigate Dariye’s criticism of his rival in which he asserted that it was the abrogation by Jang of the chiefdoms and LGs he created that precipitated the crisis.
A permanent solution to this problem should include investigating and neutralising the Christian terrorist militia that takes opportunity of demonstrations to commit ethno religious cleansing. In addition proactive measures in flash points of riots and arson in the North like Kano and Kaduna states should be taken. The criminals should be apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law to prevent further occurrence. After rendering justice, political and social factors that led to the criminality should be taken in to consideration for long-term solution.
Nigerian people should kick against the political culture where by retired army officers and serving executives who commit crimes against humanity escape prosecution. How long should Nigerians continue to suffer the yoke of thieves, robbers, ethnic cleansers, election riggers and religious hypocrites as leaders?
The Federal Government seemed to be pre occupied with the Niger Delta because of the oil, while ignoring other areas. The Christian Pentecostal Churches in the southeastern part of the country that engage in fetish crimes leading to maiming and killing of children should also be prosecuted. The CAN should come out clean and cooperate in helping the FG to investigate both the Christian terrorist militia group in Plateau state as well as the dubious Witch hunting Churches in Southeastern Nigeria.
Yours faithfully,
Mahamman Adarawa.
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