In an exclusive interview with Thisday, traditional ruler of Kumbun community in plateau state claims soldiers killed some of their villages the spokesman of the Special Task Force (STF), said there was no truth in the claim that its soldiers that attacked the people but a villager also insisted that soldiers attacked their village.
Read the full interview below
The traditional ruler of Kumbun community in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State, Jessey Miri, 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 that 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.
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