Back in July last year I did a piece titled Plateau: Home of Pieces and Terrorism. In that article I tried to trace the genesis of the crisis in Jos and highlighted the role played by General Ibrahim Babaginda in setting the scene for the present day crisis. Back in July President Goodluck Jonathan had barely gotten his legs under the Presidential desk and I did pose this question; “…Is Jonathan Goodluck going to be any different? Will he have the courage to confront these dark forces who believe they can kill with impunity? …”
Back in July last year I did a piece titled Plateau: Home of Pieces and Terrorism. In that article I tried to trace the genesis of the crisis in Jos and highlighted the role played by General Ibrahim Babaginda in setting the scene for the present day crisis. Back in July President Goodluck Jonathan had barely gotten his legs under the Presidential desk and I did pose this question; “…Is Jonathan Goodluck going to be any different? Will he have the courage to confront these dark forces who believe they can kill with impunity? …”
Even though I concluded the article by saying I saw no prospect of peace in Jos and “…I suspect there will be occasional bloodletting but overall the…peace that will persist will be that of the graveyard…” I never for once imagined the violence was going to be cranked up to the level we are witnessing today.
I have no intention of revisiting the causes of what in my opinion is no longer a crisis but a full blown genocide. I will limit this piece to the response of government and I will also attempt an examination of the performance of the security agencies to see if they are fit for purpose. Just to be clear, this piece will focus on President Goodluck Jonathan because he is the Commander in Chief, at least on paper, and because the proverbial buck stops at his desk.
For far too long we have failed to recognize what has been happening in Jos and its environs. Everybody refers to it as “crisis “or “violence”. I personally think what is happening in Jos can no longer be referred to as such because such words do not accurately reflect the gravity of the situation. What is happening in Jos as I mentioned earlier on is nothing but genocide.
Genocide was defined by Funk T Marcus as “the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group”. Wikipedia also state that genocide “includes the destruction of a social group through the forcible removal of a population”. What is happening in Jos ticks all the boxes describing genocide. People have been targeted primarily because of their ethnic groups or religion. After every crisis, so called leaders will come out and trumpet same old lies about politics and not religion or ethnicity as cause of the ongoing genocide. For the past one year, no month has gone by without an attack on Birom villages or those of other indigenous people by Hausa / Fulani militants. During such attacks, women, children, the old and infirm are slaughtered. Most times these attacks are carried out under the noses of the so called members of the Special Task Force (STF) who were drafted in to protect the people. And it is no surprise that majority of Jos people have called for their removal (more on this later) Given the regularity of the attacks, one can be forgiven in thinking that the Hausa/ Fulani rite of passage now includes the killing of a Birom or any other indigene as a precondition for transition into manhood.
The Biroms are not without blame, they were also guilty of genocidal killings when they attacked Kuru Karama early last year but that was the only recorded instance of attack on a Haua/ Fulani village. Since Kuru there have been at least 20 attacks on villages inhabited by Biroms and other indigenous people of Plateau state. Jos itself has been divided along religious lines; there are areas Christians cannot go into just like Muslims cannot dare go into Christian areas. Rather than reconcile people simply bury their dead and prepare for the next battle so they can avenge their lost ones. As if these regular village raids were not enough, a frightening dimension was introduced when multiple bombs were set off in Christian areas of Jos. Two weeks ago a luxurious bus bound for the far North was stopped and about 40 passengers, mainly Igbo men, children and women were slaughtered in broad day light on Bauchi Road. The killings have now spread to Tafawa Balewa in neighboring Bauchi state. Well over 250 people have been killed in Plateau state alone since the bomb blasts in Jos on Christmas Eve and how has the government, the President to be specific, reacted to carnage in Jos?
Apart from the customary vow to take all necessary action to arrest the perpetuators and their sponsors soon after the bomb blasts in Jos, the President has been shockingly quiet. Oh tell a lie, he did promise to appoint a terrorism adviser soon after the Abuja bomb blasts where he mentioned Jos in his analysis of the types of bombs used. The President in the same statement promised to introduce CCTV in public places for access control. The sum of Presidents response to the genocide in Jos, so far, cannot fill the back of a postage stamp. The President has not even deemed it proper to honor the dead in Jos by a visit. From where I stand I can only surmise that President Jonathan Goodluck does not care if Jos burns to the ground. It is either that or he does not want to upset the powerful individuals that lurk in the shadows as such would jeopardize his “selection” as President in a few months time. The body language of the President is that of one who does not want to talk about the elephant in the room. Unfortunately this elephant is not going to go quietly into the night; it is going to wreak more havoc unless dealt with.
It is really sad that whilst the President has abandoned the people of Jos, he is “forming activity” by jumping head first into the crisis in the Ivory Coast. The last time I checked, more people have been killed in Jos than in the Ivory Coast. According to a UN report 247 people have died in that country since November. This figure is much less than those that have been murdered in Jos within same period. Some may argue that as Chairman of Ecowas, he has a duty to intervene in Ivory Coast. But how about fulfilling his primary duty of securing our lives as President of Nigeria first? Since when did Ivorian lives become more important than those of Nigerians? What will the President say to the people of Jos if he ever goes to campaign there? ‘ I care so much about you that I abandoned you in your greatest hour of need?”
The President’s silence wouldn’t have mattered if Nigeria had well organized security agencies. As presently constituted the police, army and secret services cannot organize a drink up in a brewery. They are structured and cultured to view the citizens as enemies and are only concerned about protecting those in power. This is why they can be very effective at drawing up enemy lists and harass people like Okey Ndibe but cannot stop Boko Haram or fanatics that are hell bent killing us. The security agencies need to outgrow their caveman attitude of picking people and beating confessions out of them, they need to draw up effective strategies that can be used in dealing with the threats we face today. Soon after the Jos bombings and soon after an Islamic group claimed responsibility, a senior Police officer was reported as claiming someone from London had sent him the email address of the people responsible and he had passed the information to the commissioner of police in Jos.
The above is evidence that the security agencies are not equipped and trained to deal with these sorts of crimes. It also shows that they don’t have a clear cut process for dealing with such information. We currently have the SSS, NIA and DMA, aside the police and armed forces. But do these agencies have the knowledge and appropriate training to provide intelligence that can thwart the terrorists wreaking havoc in Nigeria? It is common knowledge that Al Qaeda is now retreating into Africa and it won’t surprise if they have not already linked up with groups like Boko Haram. How prepared are our security agencies to deal with such? The President is reported to have appointed Zakari Yakubu, a man who once headed the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) 13 years ago, as Anti-Terrorism boss. What can this man bring to the table? Another window dressing in my opinion
As I write reports are coming in of ongoing battles in Jos between the students of the University of Jos and some Hausa Fulanis. The President must as a matter of urgency come up with a plan to deal with this issue as things, if left unchecked, will unravel very quickly. The customary “I have directed the IG to move to Jos immediately is not going to suffice”. Mr President Plan A has not worked and what is your Plan B? The STF have become more of a problem than a solution. They are no longer trusted and there is documentary evidence to show some of them have been actively involved in the genocidal massacre in Jos. It is not just the indigenes protesting against them, even the University of Jos students took to the streets to protest against them. There have been reports of STF members escorting Hausa traders to the market, or helping Fulanis to go “retrieve their cows”. Is that what they were sent there to do? It is more puzzling when one hears that these same STF people were only yards away from a scene of a massacre at Riyom Village and refused to intervene when the villagers pleaded for help. That body needs to be overhauled or disbanded very quickly.
Nigerians deserve to hear their leader speak to them in times like these. Americans were reassured when they saw their President visit Tuscon after the shootings in which “just 6 people” were killed. Obama personally called family members of victims. His response showed just how important he considers every American life. This is in sharp contrast to our President who has acted in a way and manner that shows just how worthless the average Nigerian life is worth in the eyes of our so called leaders. We need to be reassured that we have a President who can lead us and proffer solutions to our problems. The time for silence is long gone, there is no more time for dithering or navel gazing Mr President. Show us you are the Commander In Chief.
[email protected]
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });