DEUTSCHE WELLE
The latest attack in the Plateau State reads like a nightmare: 17 communities were targeted, numerous houses burned down, scores of people killed.
“In Mangu local governorate alone, we buried 15 people … in Bokkos, we are counting not less than 100 corpses,” said Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
But this is only the latest of many cases of such mass killings in Nigeria’s Plateau State this year, which have widely been attributed to the persisting farmer-herder crisis in the West African nation.
While authorities are yet to establish the exact number of casualties from the Christmas attack, Amnesty International has confirmed at least 140 deaths in the Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi areas alone.
The rights organization also cited a slow response by security agencies — a concern also raised by an anonymous victim in Bokkos, who spoke to DW.
“We thought the government would bring in back-up, but unfortunately, that is yet to come,” the source said despondently
Victims in despair
Visiting Bokkos on Wednesday, Nigeria’s vice president, Kashim Shettima, tried to reassure locals that they were not being left alone.
“While it may seem that we have failed you in your time of dire need, while it may seem that you are all alone, I assure you that this government, and most particularly (President) Bola Ahmed Tinubu is here to protect you,” Shettima said, promising to “deliver justice.”
But the situation appears to have moved on from a quest for justice to an all-out humanitarian crisis.
Solomon Lukas, another Bokkos resident, told DW that in the absence of government support, most of the vulnerable population had escaped to safety in recent days, while he and other men were staying behind to protect what was left of their community.
“There is serious tension on the ground. We have not slept since Sunday. Our eyes are 24 hours open. People are tired, and the security says they don’t have manpower,” Lukas said.
While Governor Mutfwang described the spate of attacks as “senseless and unprovoked,” the head of the Bokkos farmers’ community, Edward Dikos called the rate of destruction in Plateau State “simply unbearable.”
“The Fulani came and for no just reason, they began to kill our people, burn our houses, destroy properties, animals and everything. We don’t have food to eat or water to drink,” noted Dikos…
