Not the Plateau way – Daily Trust

These heinous attacks followed several others in which hundreds of people in the two Local Government Areas – Mangu and Bokkos – were killed as they, unsuspectingly and innocently, slept at night.

In all these attacks, in which not less than five hundred people were killed, no arrests were made despite a rooftop presidential order to that effect.

These incessant attacks and killings have, naturally, frayed nerves and put the people on edge. Worse, the inability of the security agencies to pre-empt these attacks or to apprehend their perpetrators has generated a huge loss of confidence in our security agencies. It has also generated a profound sense of grievance and frustration in these embattled communities. This frustration has, in turn, and unfortunately, pushed the youths in these communities to suspect any strangers. Sometimes they misconstrue these strangers as their likely traducers, and hence the tendency to vent their misplaced aggression at them.

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With the recent and continuous attacks, and the seeming inability of the security agencies to protect ordinary folks, especially in these communities, most of them have resorted to self-help and to forming swathes of vigilantes. Without proper inculcation of rules of engagement and any elaborate training, these fly-by-night and hastily constituted vigilantes, are wont to act on the spur of the moment or to easily fly off the handle at what they may perceive as provocation. Some of these vigilantes, in the absence of vetting and due diligence, are also likely to be infiltrated by criminal elements.

This is the context in which the horrible killing of these innocent travellers took place. This context, however, does not justify or excuse these barbaric and avoidable killings. Far from it. Instead, it seeks to bring to the fore the fact that if the security agencies had played their roles well, these “reprisal” attacks would have been averted. Similarly, upstart and scarcely trained vigilantes would not have been constituted. Neither would they have mushroomed into place.

Having underscored this, one must commend Governors Caleb Mutfwang and Uba Sani, of Plateau and Kaduna states, for their prompt interventions and statesmanship. Their swift responses and measured comments have helped considerably to douse tension and to console the bereaved. However, more efforts should be made by the Plateau State Government to reach out to the relatives of the departed, to comfort them and to make necessary reparations.

Beyond reaching out to relatives of the deceased and wounded, Governor Mutfwang must ensure that reprisal attacks do not define the state. These recent killings cast a serious slur on the state. They are a huge setback to his concerted efforts to reconcile the state with itself. On his watch, thus far as Governor, he has done a marvellous job of managing the state’s diversity. He has also carried all stakeholders along.

Besides, these killings, at Mangun, are highly antithetical and opposed to the time-honoured ethos and principles of peaceful co-existence and tolerance which the state subscribes to and touts. It is on account of these core values, the state’s scenic beauty, its wonderful and clement weather, and its unique agricultural endowments that it has bequeathed itself the lofty mantra of Home of Peace. These lofty values are lacerated where citizens, who by law have the right to move and interact freely across the country, are recklessly killed.

The governor should ensure that the perpetrators of these killings are apprehended, tried and sanctioned to the full extent of the law. This is how to put a stop to further reprisal killings and the prospect of criminals exploiting attacks on communities by terrorists to take the law into their own hands. Such an action will bring healing and closure to the relatives who lost their dear ones. It will also assure all Nigerians and members of the international community of their safety in the state.

In addition to the fire-brigade actions which Governor Mutfwang has taken to bring down the tension occasioned by these killings, his government must urgently engage with stakeholders – traditional rulers, community leaders, influencers, civil society, media, youth and women groups – in the state.

Much as, in the near absence of the security agencies living up to their responsibilities, vigilantes are inevitable, these vigilantes should be prevailed upon to demonstrate caution and to rein in their excesses. They should know their limitations. And they should not view themselves as alternate security agencies and the judiciary, invested with the power to prosecute and to dispense justice. Where suspects are apprehended by them, they should be handed over to the regular security agencies. The security agencies, given their shortcomings, should consider incorporating them into their wider security architecture as is being done in the North East and North West. This implies that these vigilantes should work with, and abet, the security agencies. They should also make information available to them.

 Nick Dazang is a former director at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).