The minority leader, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, who issued a statement on behalf of the caucus, blamed political authorities and security operatives for the dark December Plateau massacre
The minority caucus of the House of Representatives has called for a probe into the latest round of violence that resulted in the death and displacement of many citizens in Plateau State.
The caucus made this call on Thursday, December 28, 2023, three days after armed men stormed multiple communities and killed numerous people in what can be referred to as the Plateau massacre.
Between December 23 to 25, 2023, a group of unidentified armed men launched coordinated attacks in multiple communities. Apart from the killing of over 100 persons in the communities affected, property worth millions of naira were also destroyed and hundreds of people have been displaced.
A statement by the minority leader, Rep. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), bemoaned the endless violence in the Plateau and blamed the failure of security operatives to carry out their duty promptly and proactively for the crsis. He also blamed the nonchalance of political authorities for the continued attacks in the state.
According to him, the invasion of communities in Barkin Ladi and Bokkos Local Government is a result of years of unchecked ethnic crisis in the state.
“The invasion of five communities and the killings of over seventy persons by unknown gunmen in Gashish and Ropp Districts of Barkin Ladi and Bokkos local government areas of Plateau State on Christmas eve have raised national and global concerns about the security of persons in Nigeria, particularly the north-central region of Nigeria and murders that have gone for too long on the Plateau.
“These murders, which have become the cyclical outcomes of inter-communal violence in Plateau State, show how grievances between communities can be turned into organised violence by unidentified groups and persons who use violent methods to address perceived differences.
“What is more sinister is that warnings of impending attacks are unheeded by security agencies, coupled with the apparent unwillingness of the political leadership to arrest perpetrators and nip the violence in Plateau State in the bud. If the accounts of witnesses are to be believed, what stands clear is the act of collusion and conspiracy in the bloodletting.”
“The murders on the Plateau have gone on for too long and must be stopped now,” he said.
