IN what has become a virtual routine,Fulani herdsmen again invaded a cluster of villages in Barkin Ladi and Riyom local government areas of Plateau State on Saturday, July 15, 2012.  Some reports put the casualty figure at 30 while other reports said the figure was in multiples of that number. The outpourings of grief and expressions of outrage that greeted the mass murder had not subsided when the rampaging herdsmen struck again the following day. They descended on mourners at the mass burial of victims of the previous day’s massacre, killing another 20.  The chairman of the Senate Committee on  Health, Senator Gyang Dantong, a medical doctor and the Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of  Assembly, Mr Gyang Fulani lost their lives  in the onslaught. A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Simon Madwakon, who was also at the burial site, was lucky to have survived.

THE rapid succession of tragic incidents  has amply demonstrated that the state of insecurity in Nigeria has reached a bewildering  dimension. The  messages of condolence that have been pouring out from the seat of power have become boring  just as the hackneyed sentences in which assurances of safety are being constantly conveyed  have become meaningless. The people have for long ceased to believe the promises of government to provide the basic necessities  that make life comfortable for  the citizenry.  It is worrying that this distrust is now extending to the realm  of security which is primus inter pares among  the responsibilities of  government.    

NIGERIA has been grappling with the menace of  Boko Haram  for the past three years.  There is as yet no light at the end of the tunnel as the maniacal group has been issuing and making good its threats.  President Goodluck Jonathan has told Nigerians that  the various arms of his government, including the security agencies, have  been infiltrated by the sect. He has said it openly that the government knows their sponsors. What is yet to be seen is a decisive action that will expose and neutralise the characters who constitute the backbone of an organisation which has sworn to  continue with its campaign of death and blood. As the Boko Haram insurgents widen their frontiers of operation, the Fulani herdsman are manifesting themselves as another serious threat to national security.

THE hitherto serene atmosphere of the Jos Plateau has for long become a scene of conflicts and extensive bloodletting brought about by a combination of ethnic, religious and political differences.  The hoodlums arrested in connection with one of the episodes of the periodic violence which occurred during the presidency of the late Umaru Yar’Adua were ordered to be taken to Abuja instead of being brought to justice within the jurisdiction in which they committed their offences.

They were later quietly set free and thus let loose for another round of violence. The reports on previous disturbances have been put away to gather dust. The faulty handling of the situation has created an atmosphere of impunity  which is being constantly exploited by the sponsors of anarchy.  For how long will this continue?

THERE have been allegations of complicity on the part of the security agents because the rampaging herdsmen have been making incursions into the affected areas unhindered.  Governor Jonah Jang at a time expressed his frustration and helplessness when he could not get  the military commander  in Jos to ward off an imminent attack which eventually took place and resulted in the loss of so many lives. The blast in one of the churches in Zaria was reported to have occurred shortly after the withdrawal of soldiers who had mounted  a checkpoint near the church. Madwakon who survived the burial site attack, said he had complained to various authorities about the presence of terrorist groups in the two local government areas but regretted that there was no response whatsoever. He told reporters that before the herdsmen’s onslaught, a member of the Special Task Force (STF) asked him and his colleagues to remove the ambulance they brought to the village so that they (STF members) could position an armoured tank at the place.  To his dismay, a Hilux vehicle and not an armoured tank was brought in and it was used to block the only access road to the village. This, he further said, was followed by what he interpreted as a signal shot and the appearance of gunmen from the hills. Could all these have been sheer coincidences?

BOKO Haram has openly stated  that it was behind the killings. It is now saying that the acceptance of Islam by Nigerian Christians is a condition precedent for peace in the country.  The national protem secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Mallam Sale Bayeri, has justified  the mindless massacre which he sees as the herdsmen’s pound of flesh for the losses they suffered during the past conflicts.  There have been reports that Fulani terrorists from Chad and Niger Republic have found their way into Nigeria  and were indeed used in the attacks that resulted in the last round of bloodbath.  Even the Attorney-General of the Federation  and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke has openly admitted that Nigeria is descending to anarchy.  For how long will  Plateau state remain a killing field for the Fulani herdsmen?  When will the Federal Government muster the will to deal decisively with this terrible situation? 

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