Soldiers Kill Scores in Plateau Villages

firstclassnewsline.net

Jessey miri, The traditional ruler of Kumbun community in Wase Local
Government Area of Plateau State, yesterday raised the alarm on the
slaying of an estimated 400 persons following the invasion of soldiers
in Kadarko, Kurmi and Wadata villages in the community.
He alleged that soldiers arrived the villages in over 40 trucks on
Saturday after reports of the alleged killing of four soldiers at
Angwan Nanmi in Karin Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State, a
town that borders Plateau State.
In a telephone interview, the traditional ruler said: "We are still in
shock over what the military did to our people. As I speak with you,
the corpses of our people still litter the villages, scores of houses
were burnt and some of the villagers were burnt in their homes,
including children and the aged."
But reacting to the allegation, the spokesman of the Special Task
Force (STF), Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, said there was no truth in the
claim that its soldiers attacked the people.
He said following frequent attacks on communities around the
Plateau-Taraba border by some militia, the STF and soldiers from the 3
Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army had carried out operations
targeted at flushing out the militia.
He added that soldiers who were working to protect the people could
not have turned round to kill them.
But another local, who preferred anonymity, insisted that scores of
villagers were killed by soldiers.
According to him, "The soldiers arrived the area and opened fire on
the innocent people, burning their houses. I cannot imagine soldiers
opening fire on unarmed civilians they are supposed to protect."
Reacting to the development, a rights group, Human Rights Writers
Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), condemned the alleged killing of over
400 villagers in Plateau State by "armed men in military fatigues".
In a statement yesterday, it said against the backdrop of recent mass
killings by suspected armed hoodlums especially in the North-central
region of Nigeria dominated by ethnic minorities, the rights group
tasked the incoming administration of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari
to set up a judicial mechanism through thoroughbred investigations at
state levels to "unravel the causes and masterminds of this dastardly
crime against humanity with the objective of enforcing the necessary
laws to penalise the killers".
HURIWA canvassed a bipartisan approach to firmly root out mass
murderers and ensure that those who commit atrocities are charged to
courts of competent jurisdiction and prosecuted competently,
professionally and punished for their crimes.
The statement signed by the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel
Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf,
called on the president-elect to use his richly endowed goodwill as a
vastly revered Nigerian statesman of northern origin to encourage
state administrations in the frontline restive states to initiate a
truth and reconciliation process.
The rights group believed that only an effective implementation of a
combination of the twin strategy of constructive civil dialogue and
enforcement of a range of anti-mass killing laws by a professionally
disciplined police force and the offices of Attorneys-General in the
36 states of the federation would minimise the spate of organised
pogroms that have gone on uninterrupted in different parts of northern
Nigeria.
HURIWA said: "We hereby in the strongest possible terms condemn the
mass killings going on in parts of northern Nigeria. We note with
sadness that hundreds of innocent villagers have lost their precious
lives through the genocidal attacks of a range of armed mercenaries
suspected of being Fulani herdsmen.
"Plateau, Kaduna and Benue States have had a disproportionate share of
these mass killings and sadly the killers and their sponsors are
walking the streets freely."
It added that the weekend killings of indigenous tribes people in Wase
Area of Plateau State had added a more sinister dimension to the
entire deadly and vicious scenarios with the strong suspicion that
those who undertook the killings were "soldiers" on revenge killings
over last week's killing of four soldiers near Taraba State.
"Nigeria must break this vicious circle of impunity if we ever hope to
enthrone a vibrant democracy that respects the rule of law," it said.
Firstclassnewsline.net