FULANI HERDSMEN ATTACK AGAIN

The guerrilla warfare embarked upon by the Fulanis on the Jos Plateau continues unabated. While the security agents stationed here were beefing up security on Monday, 21 February 2011 following rumours of planned planned attacks, a bunch of murderous Fulani herdsmen were headed for Bere village in Fan District of Barkin Ladi LGA. By 1:00 am, Tuesday, 22 February, 20011 when the Fulanis were on their escape route, there were 18 corpses strewn around the village, mainly of women and children, but including that of their leader.

As usual, by the time the peace keeping soldiers arrived on the scene of the incident, they were late by hours and so no arrests could be effected. The natives who attempted to give chase to their assailants were stopped by the Federal troops. One of the survivors said he recognized one of their attackers as Dangana who lived with his cattle around the village. Guns and machetes were freely used and arson perpetrated in the attack.

Shockingly, it has been reported that the Commander of the Special Task Force stationed in Jos said he refused to send his men there in time because Plateau people have consistently demanded for the withdrawal of the soldiers.

A pattern has, however, emerged in these unprovoked attacks. In 90% of these incidences, cattle are rustled. It is obvious to me that the Fulanis are making a statement to all who care to listen, that, "All non-Fulanis who have gone into the business of raring cattle should stop it." Majority of their victims have been cattle and ranch owners irrespective of tribe. They and their wives and children have been mercilessly killed and their cattle taken away.

For how long do the bush nomadic Fulani herdsmen of Nigeria think that the world will wait for them to breed their lean cattle on the sparse Savannah grasses? Populations are exploding and demands for beef are ever increasing. Moreover, health considerations are turning people more and more to the professionals and ranch breeders who are all-comers from all parts of Nigeria. May be our Fulanis need assistance so they can improve their animal husbandry methods and retain their inherited means of livelihood. Educated Fulanis like Dr. Aliyu Tilde should be able to prepare necessary blueprints which will enable government o formulate policy in this direction just like the much-touted Almajiri Education in Jigawa State. I will therefore mail a copy of this post to him in the honest belief that, as an intellectual, he will take up this suggestion, investigate into the reasons for Fulani attacks on non-Fulani cattle rarers and proffer lasting solutions to whatever their problem is.

James Pam

jamespam2004@yahoo.com

http://josplateauaffairs.blospot.com

MIDDLE BELT DIALOGUE WRITES PRESIDENT G. JONATHAN

18 February, 2011

Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan

President

Presidential Villa

Asokoro

Abuja

Your Excellency,

Concerns of the Moment For the Middle Belt

The Middle Belt Dialogue is made up of professionals, public and private sector workers, and religious and communities leaders of ethnic minorities of Northern Nigeria. As early as May last year we endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2011 Presidency and worked vigorously to ensure that the President is accepted in the Middle Belt. Among the foot soldiers of the President’s Campaign organization in all the 19 states of the North, and several Middle Belt people campaigning for the president to be elected candidate. For this support several of them fell out with some Governors and opponents of the President. The Middle Belt Dialogue stood to oppose the Arewa Consultative Forum and the Ciroma-led Northern Political leaders Forum.

To date our communities have resisted and are still resisting overtures from Hausa-Fulani Muslims who insist that President Jonathan should not be elected. Our reasons for doing this, among others, include our belief in justice, equity and fairness; in the past our leaders worked for the unity of this nation; our young people laid down their lives for Nigeria to remain one indivisible nation; and largely because we are minorities as individual groups, even though together we are the majority we have been excluded from the major sectors of the economy and politics.

Emerging Trends

Our hope, Your Excellency, is that as a minority yourself, you will be able to appreciate our predicament, that our women, children, young and old, at home and abroad, are working hard for you to emerge as President and to expand the democratic space for all peoples of Nigeria.

However, the MBD has watched as Mr. President has gone out of his way to throw favour at people who don’t like him, are working against him and the Niger Delta and has not looked favourably at us and our cries for justice and incorporation into the politics and economy of Nigeria.

Mr. President, in our online discussion groups, facebook and other social networking platforms, our youth are beginning to ask us to explain our support for the Mr. President who has not categorically said anything about the over 18 attacks in the outskirts of Jos, far away from the scène of conflicts in which over 800 women and Children have been killed in the last 10 months.

As matter of fact, one of the persons indicted by previous commissions of enquiry for creating problems in Jos was promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police by your government.(see attached appendix 1)

Secondly, Mr. President, you have made overtures to the North and nothing promised to our people. Our people who live in the North-East zone are not represented in your new campaign structure which is made up of people from communities which have vowed not to vote for you. It is logical to presume, therefore, that after our people vote you to power the beneficiaries may be the people who will not give their votes to you. The North-East zone is as Middle Belt as the North-Central and the communities always work together as Middle Belt people. Strategically, it does not make sense for the communities that support you not have high visibility in the campaign.

Thirdly, Mr. President has decided to sponsor Quaranic education for Hausa Fulani Muslims called Almajiris, who are incidentally only found in the North. The best approach would have been to properly fund education and work towards integrating these kids into the Nigerian system as equal stakeholders as other Nigerian Children. Mr. President may wish to know that he is now sponsoring the expansion of these Islamic schools where impressionable children are being taught hate and intolerance, which is what exclusivity of such schools to Muslim Clerics and pupils would do now and will continue to do.

The argument that Almajiris are excluded from the school system is not very correct because millions of Middle Belt children are out in school because the school system has collapsed and the Mission schools which used to cater for them have been taken over by government.

Your Excellency may also wish to note that that Christian schools, both in the Middle Belt and the North , were seized by the Federal and state Governments. These Mission schools performed excellently well and catered for both Muslim and Christian pupils. Now, Mr. President, why cater only for the Muslims when Christians are in the worst form and shape.

The action of Mr. President in this respect would amount to the violation of Section 10 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which reads: “The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion” unless, of course, Mr. President would commit the same amount of resources to the funding of Christian education

How to Redeem the situation

Your Excellency, the Middle Belt Dialogue would like you to consider the following urgent steps:

1. Immediate sack from security positions all those security men that have been indicted by Commissions of enquiry.

2. Immediate stop to the killing of women and children in the villages of Jos. Several security people have been indicted or even arrested on the scenes of such killings - ID cards of serving security people have been found in the scenes of such killings. These people are arrested and released back to cause mayhem.

3. Provision of funding for Christian education, especially of women and children in the same way that the Almajiri education is being funded. Our people need a public pronouncement to this effect.

4. There is need for more Middle Belt visibility in the campaign to assure our people that they will be fully involved in the government that will be formed

5. Empowerment: Patronage in terms of political appointments, Contracts among others.

6. Infrastructure: The roads in the Middle Belt areas were ignored by the PTF. General Olusegun Obasanjo helped to open up some roads. We need more bridges across River Benue at Ibi and Lau in Taraba State.

Conclusion

We want to assure your Excellency that our support is guaranteed but we need to ensure that.

Yours Faithfully,

Rima Shawulu Kwewum

Facilitator

CC:

Senate President, Distinguished David Bonaventure Mark

General T. Y. Danjuma, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee.

Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, Former Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party.

Professor Jerry Gana

GEJ SLEEPS IN JOS PEACEFULLY

"This decision of GEJ to sleep in Jos & campaign in this city is the most cheering event that has happened on the plateau of late. GEJ has shown greater faith in, & commitment to plateau than many sons of the soil. He has not made noise about his faith in plateau, but he has said all he needs to say in his actions. He has shown that he knows truly the ppl assiduosly working against the state & the MB region at large & indeed the nation. That some ppls days are numbered is clear. Now i know that the clamour for the removal of federal presence from Jos is not likely to succeed. For this visit & the show of support for plateau ppl, GEJ has my vote! Would it be out of place then for us to follow he example of Mr President to talk less and act more?" KA

JUSTICE SLOWLY BUT SURELY COMING TO THE JOS PLATEAU

The Federal High Court 2 Jos, sitting in Abuja sentenced a moslem to 21yrs imprisonment. The convict was arrested with a gun which he confessed using in killing Christians at Channel 7. Meanwhile we were able to get 41 of our brethren discharged today before the same court in three separate cases after our no case submission was upheld by His lordship.
How painful it is that after wasting a whole year in prison, they will return back to their respective villages with their homes and farm produce already destroyed.

7 MORE DIE IN THE JOS FREE KILLING FIELDS

In Jos on Tuesday, the mobile policeman, identified as Corporal John Isuwa, was stabbed to death at the Abuja Market in the Terminus Area by hoodlums who were said to have traced him to the market where he had gone to shop for his wife who just delivered a baby. A little girl who was standing by was also stabbed by the hoodlums.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that the girl however ran to safety with blood all over her body thus provoking anger among traders in the market.

“The sight of the girl with blood all over her body angered the people around and within minutes the whole market was in turmoil. Traders quickly closed their shops and vehicles started fleeing the area,” the witness narrated.

Some of those who saw the corpse of Isuwa at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital (Jankwano) were said to have launched reprisals in Gada Biu and other sections of the city.

In the reprisal attacks, three other persons were killed in Gada Biu while four others were murdered at the Terminus area.

Businesses around Rwang Pam Street, Ahmadu Bello Way, Moshalasi Juma’a and Bukuru Park were completely paralyzed as traders hurriedly closed shops.

Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Abdulrahman Akano, who confirmed the incident, said that his men and soldiers attached to the Special Task Force had been mobilized to keep the peace in the areas.

Akano said that four people were arrested in connection with the incident.

(Curled from The Punch Newspaper of 16 Feb. 2011)

Return Court of Appeal and Federal High Court to Jos and Remove the Leader of JTF

Jos Crisis: Return Court of Appeal and Federal High Court to Jos and Remove the Leader of JTF

The Plateau Good Governance Forum (PGGF) has read with dismay and concern newspaper reports about the transfer of the Court of Appeal from Jos to Gombe and the Federal High Court to Abuja. If this story is true, then the action is unfortunate as it sends a wrong signal, not only to Nigerians but to the international community as well as investors at large, on the crisis in the state.

The Federal Government is expected to find solution to the crisis rather than scaring people from the state by transferring the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court to other states. The action gives the impression that the crisis is beyond the State Government, the security outfits and the Federal Government that are expected to assure Nigerians on peace and stability. The question is how many Federal agencies and institutions have been moved out of crisis-proned areas such as Bauchi, Borno, Kano, Gombe, Kaduna, Niger Delta and others? Why single out Plateau?

The Plateau Good Governance Forum (PGGF) therefore calls on the Federal Government to order the return of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court to Jos as well as find lasting solutions to the crisis in this naturally peaceful state.

The PGGF also commends the Federal Government for replacing the Special Task Force in the State with new soldiers. It is unfortunate that some of the soldiers had become “economic extractive agents” and “mercenaries” rather than peace keepers in the state. It is hoped that these new soldiers will be neutral and more humane.

To complete the process, we call on the Military to replace the Commander of the Special Task Force, Brigadier GeneralHassan Umaru to maintain the trust of the people of Plateau State and other Nigerians. The Task Force leader has lost the trust of the communities in Plateau State.

Meanwhile we advise all communities in the state to set up security watch groups to protect and avoid their wives and children being slaughtered by marauders. We assure Nigerians and the International community that Plateau will soon overcome the crisis and maintain its status as the most peaceful state in the country. PGGF is an organization for Plateau professionals and eminent persons in the diaspora.

Yakubu Gam

For: Plateau Good Governance Forum

Taken from the watchdogeportershttp://www.watchdogreporters.com/