- Says Cycle Of Impunity Fuelling Recurrent Violence Must Be Urgently Broken
- Mutfwang In Tears, Reveals Content Of Emotional Letter To President Tinubu
As the death toll from the Christmas Eve attack in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State inches closer to 200, the United Nation has expressed alarm and shock at the event while demanding a probe into the event.
The Matrix reports that the Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Musa Ashoms disclosed that 195 people have been killed on Thursday.
READ ALSO: Black Christmas: Death Toll In Plateau Attack Rises To Over 115, Says Gov Mutfwang
However, the Nigerian Red Cross, a Non-Governmental Organization in Bokkos disclosed that 161 deaths were recorded with 32,604 persons affected. The attack has affected 84 communities in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi and left 29,350 persons displaced.
According to the Red Cross, the coordinated attack left 301 persons injured and 27 houses burnt.
Armed groups launched attacks between Saturday evening and Tuesday morning in Nigeria’s Plateau State, a region plagued for several years by religious and ethnic tensions.
Authorities had previously put the death toll at 163.
A large number of the dead were buried on Tuesday, with the vice president of the Church of Christ in Nations, Timothy Nuwan, putting the number at 150.
Reacting to this UN Rights Chief, Volker Turk in a statement said “I am deeply alarmed by the series of attacks by gunmen on multiple rural communities in Plateau State.
READ ALSO: A‘Court Sacks Plateau Gov, Mutfwang
“I call on the Nigerian authorities to investigate this incident promptly, thoroughly and independently, consistent with international human rights law, and to hold those responsible to account in fair trials.
“The cycle of impunity fuelling recurrent violence must be urgently broken. The government should also take meaningful steps to address the underlying root causes and to ensure non-recurrence of this devastating violence.”
Northwest and central Nigeria have been long terrorised by bandit militias operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Murtfwang, has declared that the killings in the state must be brought to an end.
The governor said he has already cried out to President Bola Tinubu to fish out the killers and also put a permanent end to the attacks in the state.
Murtfwang, in a statement he shared on X, said he has had discussions with Tinubu, adding that there are many decisions they have taken and agreed upon.
“We are grateful to the President, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was represented by the Vice President Kashim Shettima, for treating the situation in Plateau State as an urgent one,” he wrote.
READ ALSO: Black Christmas: Death Toll In Plateau Attack Rises To Over 115, Says Gov Mutfwang
“I appreciate the Vice President for stating how deeply shaken they are by the heinous killings of the people of Plateau State.
“We cannot pardon what has happened and when I spoke with His Excellency, the President, my cry to him was that the shedding of blood on the Plateau must stop.
“The recent happenings were totally uncalled for, unprovoked and barbaric. We know that these killings were not done by ghosts and the Federal Government has to fish out these perpetrators.
“I have discussed with Mr President and there are many decisions we have taken and agreed upon and I will not rest until those decisions are implemented.
“We will do everything to right the wrongs of the past and make sure that people that are in immediate need of health care will be attended to.
READ ALSO: At Visit To Victims Of Plateau Attacks, VP Shettima Assures Communities Of Justice
“I have been praying for this day that we the leaders of the Plateau will become united and I want to believe the seed of that unity has been sown.”
It would be recalled that armed groups launched attacks between Saturday evening and Tuesday morning in Plateau State, a region plagued for several years by religious and ethnic tensions.
The region is on the dividing line between Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north and mainly Christian south.
READ ALSO: Plateau: Tinubu Condemns Killings, Charges Security Agencies To Apprehend Perpetrators
Northwest and central Nigeria have been long terrorised by bandit militias operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.
Competition for natural resources between nomadic herders and farmers, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has also exacerbated social tensions and sparked violence.
