INDEPENDENT
The Plateau State government has described the fresh attacks on Mangu Local Government Area of the state as ethnic cleansing on the natives in their ancestral homes.
It would be recalled that residents of Mangu Local Government Area said they were attacked Wednesday morning as armed men continued wreaking havoc despite a 24-hour curfew imposed by the state government on Tuesday.
Caleb Mutfwang, the state governor, imposed the curfew after fatal violence occurred in the local council area on Tuesday.
The crisis, primarily between indigenous farmers and migrant herders, continued around 09:30a.m. when armed men “in their large numbers invaded the entire community,” Uba Shehu, a resident of Mangu Alle town, told newsmen.
The Plateau Information Commissioner, Musa Ashoms, in an interview with Daily Independent in Jos on Thursday, called on security operatives to fish out the perpetrators of this heinous act wherever they are with a view to bringing them to justice.
According to him, the killing in the state, particularly in Mangu LGA, is one attack too many done against the natives of the land.
He said Governor Caleb Mutfwang cannot afford to lead the people of his state that are not certain of the security of their lives and are being killed all the time in their ancestral homes.
“We cannot be living in perpetual fear because some people have decided to take up arms against their fellow human beings.
Once a none state actor is arrested with arms, the commensurate punishment should be meted out to him.
You can see what is happening is not only in Plateau State, once criminals are not arrested and punished, they will continue to perpetrate their nefarious act unchecked”, he said.
Ashoms noted that the security agencies have woken up to their responsibility as they have started seeing tremendous changes unlike before when in one day you will have quite a number of casualties.
“Yesterday, they have seen aerial surveillance by the police helicopter or chopper sent to Mangu to prevent further breakdown of law and order in the area.
