Plateau state government, CAN, PDP and attempts to cover up the Jos Ethno religious cleansing

By

Mahamman Adarawa

m_adarawa@yahoo.com

 

 

The report of the Human Rights Watch on the recent ethno religious cleansing directed at Muslims in Jos North LG has clearly revealed that the genocide and carnage was directed by the Governor of Plateau state, who instructed the police to shoot people that were protesting the rigging he orchestrated. The report clearly showed that the police and sometimes the army personnel entered people’s houses and killed many innocent people. The worst of the barbaric acts was the killing of pupils at school, children, mothers, protesting youth and NYSC members.

 

In the aftermath of the ethnic cleansing, Jonah Jang and his officials in their fascist and diabolical mentality planned to swear in the newly rigged LG chairmen. He only stopped when the President grumbled. The statements of Jang and his officials revealed that they are a bunch of primitive and sadistic fascists who have no empathy or appreciation of human life, rights and values.

 

The PDP led Federal Government has set up a bureaucratic commission of inquiry a few days ago, because of persistent protests by the people. If the Federal Government was serious, it should have set up a judicial panel of inquiry because of the gravity of ethnic cleansing which in reality is a crime against humanity. Even at that, Jonah Jang decided to bluff by taking the Federal Government to court. It is nothing but sheer “guilty conscience” that is pushing Jonah Jang to the Supreme Court. Jonah Jang in his arrogance is even grumbling that the wife of the President did not visit Rayfield (Government House) before visiting the victims! Of course, she followed the right moral protocol, because it is only hypocrites who shake the hands of a Fascist Governor, whose hands are stained with the blood of pupils, corpers, children, parents and patriotic men and women who came out to protest election rigging.

 

While the living victims were grieving over the loss of loves ones, physical injuries, loss of possessions and psychological trauma of  witnessing a genocide, The Northern Branch of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)  came up with a childish lie in support of the fascists a week before the Human rights report came out. CAN said their investigations revealed that those who committed the genocides are foreigners from Niger and Chad. This was the same lie dished to us by Plateau state government. It is a pity that even Onayekan the current President of CAN could not lift the organisation from its low position. It is worth remembering that some religious leaders in the CAN wanted us to accept Obasanjo as a messiah that Nigeria needed, even when he was committing blunders in his first term. Infact Sunday Mbang campaigned for him in 2003 as he had promised. During the Yelwan Shendam genocides about 3 years ago, Obasanjo even climbed a higher moral pedestal than the CAN leader in Plateau state, when he declared a state of emergency in Plateau state. At that time, Reverend Pam could not see the gravity of the genocides and had protested to Obasanjo! Of course, Obasanjo had to tell him off in his usual ways.

 It is worthwhile if Onayekan could take full charge of the CAN  and deny fascists, tribalists, witch hunters, shrine priests, ethnic cleansers, arsonists and corrupt politicians any platform, otherwise they would continue trying to hide behind CAN to commit evil. CAN leaders must have been embarrassed for supporting Dariye only to see him been paraded for embezzling the ecological fund of the state while his state was burning! On the same note, the report of the Human Rights Watch must also be a big embarrassment for CAN. Imagine just a week ago Bishop Gbonigi in an interview with the Sun Newspaper castigated Afenefere as liars, yet in the same interview when asked about the genesis of the Jos ethnic cleansing, he narrated his view, which either meant he is a cleric ignorant of Nigeria’s history or else a bigger liar than those he accused. How dare he call Afenefere liars when they have consistently advocated for the political development of their region! They bravely stood up to Obasanjo despite his divide and rule tactics at the time when the big clerics were falling on themselves to befriend him and justify his atrocities!

 

Some Muslims clerics like Gumi who insisted that people should accept the rigged 2007 elections in his infamous fatwa is silent because probably there is no advantage to gain from protesting the ethnic cleansing in Plateau state.

 

The statements of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party also showed attempts to cover up and undermine any attempt to bring Jang and the perpetrators to justice.

Thus, while the senate president commented that it was the handiwork of desperate politicians (?), his deputy said foreigners caused it! The former governor of Kebbi state (Adamu Aliero) who decamped from ANPP to PDP to escape EFCC said people should not call for state of emergency. The Presidency also kept mute apart from grumbling to Jang not to swear in the new LG chairmen. However, this is not surprising because it is the tradition of the PDP to cover up the criminality of its members by dismissing important issues as “family affair”.

Thus, even though the PDP boasts as the largest party in Africa, it is also the most murderous party in Africa. Nigerians compare it only with the fascist political parties of the 70s in the banana republics of Latin America.

Nigerians would recall how individuals like Bola Ige, Harry Marshall, Dikibo and Saadatu Rimi, Sheik Jaafar Adam and others were assassinated under the watchful eyes of the PDP. Communities like Odi and Zaki Biyam were also razed to the ground without any recourse to dialogue to solve communal conflicts

 

The corrupt and hypocritical ex and current governors of the North west sub region like Ahmed Sani Zamfara, Ibrahim Shekarau and Saminu Turaki  who are in ANPP in the day and PDP at night could not be bothered about this, now that they are revelling over their escape from EFCC!

 

In conclusion, there are attempts to cover up the Jos ethnic cleansing by Plateau State Government, its sympathisers in CAN and the PDP. Only a biased, visionless religious organisation tries to cover up criminals. It is worse for the country if a decadent and spineless (in the words of General Danjuma) Federal Government choose to take matters of ethnic cleansing lackadaisically.

 

If we were in a country that values human life, Jonah Jang, the fascist surrounding him, and the mobile policemen he sent to commit the ethnic cleansing should be facing prosecution by now. Since this is not happening and the fascists are even becoming arrogant and trying to justify their crimes in the face of a weak Federal Government, the only way of ensuring justice is by taking Jonah Jang to International criminal court as advocated by Alhaji Dasuki Nakande. Bagasoro, the mastermind of the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda is a character alike of Jang, because their philosophy and modus operandi are the same. It is only fair if Jang could face prosecution like his character alike Bagasoro.

 

Thus, justice must first be done before looking in to the cause! After rendering justice, the federal government should then use the ecological fund of Plateau state to rehabilitate the victims. We should then look in to the causative factors. Security issues are paramount. The government should thoroughly check the police and fish out murderers among them. Stealing of weapons from the armoury should be investigated, culprits must be apprehended and court marshalled. Ethnic militias should be investigated and criminals among them prosecuted. Socio economic factors specifically like life & work after retirement for security personnel, pensions and treatment of alcoholism among some of them will go a long way in reducing their vulnerability to being recruited by fascists. General socio economic measures like fighting corruption, generating employment and improving services cannot be overstated. Religious groups that have militant tendencies or support apartheid in Plateau state must be told that they are promoting crimes against humanity and if found wanting the Federal Government should not hesitate to bring them to justice. A tendency where clerics incite, abate or misinform the public leading to turmoil should not be tolerated, even if they claim that they are “men of God”.

 Psychological & Behavioural factors like morbid jealousy, inferiority complex, blind hatred, greed, murderous mentality and ethnic penalty among the fascists should be investigated.  Sociologist and Psychologist could be encouraged to set up citizenship programmes (relating to human rights & values) to educate the various communities in Plateau state to ensure that we have a secure and stable multiethnic society in Plateau state and indeed Nigeria as a whole.

 

 

Mahamman Adarawa,

 

Abuja, Nigeria.