The United States is angry with the Federal Government. Reason: Perpetrators of previous killings in Jos, the Plateau State capital, have not been brought to justice.
This time, the US has warned the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to ensure that those involved in the massacre of more than 500 people, mostly women and children on Sunday morning, in the city, are arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent and send a strong signal to the outside world that the country is serious in its determination to protect lives and property.
US Secretary of State, Senator Hillary Clinton, had to set aside her meeting with a foreign Head of State for a while to condemn what she called the “tragic loss of life in Nigeria”.
Senator Clinton, who hosted the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, on Monday afternoon in Washington DC, told reporters after the meeting: “Before I comment on our meeting, though, I wish to express our concern for the tragic loss of life in Nigeria.” She called on the Federal Government to enforce the law.
Her words: “We continue to urge all parties to exercise restraint and seek constructive means for addressing the cycle of violence in Plateau State. The Nigerian Government should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of violence are brought to justice, under the rule of law, and that human rights are respected as order is restored.”
At the same time the international human right group, Human Rights Watch based in New York but with offices around the world noted that Nigeria’s acting president “should make sure that the massacre of at least 200 Christian villagers in Central Nigeria on March 7, 2010 is thoroughly and promptly investigated and that those responsible are prosecuted”.
Also later on Monday from the world headquarters of the United Nations, the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, for the second time in two months, voiced his concern about religious violence in Nigeria, raising international fears about the country’s stability.
He urged all sides to exercise maximum restraint.
While speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters, Mr. Ki-moon called the loss of life resulting from the Christian-Muslim clashes, which reportedly number in the hundreds, “appalling”.
A UN statement reads in part: “The central Nigerian city witnessed similar clashes in January, as well as in November 2009, with several hundred people being killed and many more being displaced on both occasions.
“Nigeria’s political and religious leaders should work together to address the underlying causes and to achieve a permanent solution to the crisis in Jos.”
Human Rights Watch also commented in a statement that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan should ensure that the military and the police act swiftly to protect civilians of all ethnicities at risk of further attacks or reprisal killings, by conducting regular patrols throughout the vulnerable region.
“This kind of terrible violence has left thousands dead in Plateau State in the past decade, but no one has been held accountable,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West African researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Dufka added: “It’s time to draw a line in the sand. The authorities need to protect these communities, bring the perpetrators to book, and address the root causes of violence.”
Human Rights Watch said it spoke to witnesses who stated that “the attacks were committed by Muslim men speaking Hausa and Fulani against Christians, mostly of the Berom ethnicity. Civil society leaders in Jos said that the attacks appeared to be in retaliation for previous attacks against Muslim communities in the area and the theft of cattle from Fulani herdsmen. On January 19, more than 150 Muslim residents were killed in an attack on the nearby town of Kuru Karama.”
Meanwhile Nigerian women condemned, yesterday, the latest crisis. They threatened to go naked if the Federal Government fails to stop the carnage.
The women, who spoke through the National Council of Women Societies, NCWS, took a critical look at what they termed the “senseless massacre” that took place in the early hours of Sunday and declared that they can no longer fold their arms and watch the lawlessness and terrorism. The President of the NCWS, Hajia Ramatu Bala Usman, who spoke for the women in Abuja yesterday, said: “We, the Nigerian women, can no longer fold our arms and watch the lawless act going on in Jos, Plateau State. The senseless massacre has left women and the leaders of tomorrow as the greatest casualties.
“We will not hesitate to walk the streets of Abuja, the nation’s capital naked if the federal government does not stop this carnage.”
They noted with regrets that at a time efforts were being made to restore the nation’s battered image, some miscreants, hoodlums and evil men were dragging the name of the country in the mud. The women tasked the security operatives to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime against humanity, no matter how highly placed. They vowed that should the government fail to address the situation quickly, “we would rise up, within the limits of civilized practice, to force the nation’s leadership to live up to its responsibilities because we are the major victims in the crisis”.
The NCWS President added that Nigerian women were alarmed at the senseless massacre of defenceless Nigerian children and women, stressing that the group could not reconcile “this latest mayhem where armed men invaded harmless communities in the early hours and killed defenceless people.”
She said: “As mothers of the nation, we cannot understand the ugly and unfortunate development at a time efforts are being made to find a solution to the previous crisis.
“As in the previous case, we as mothers of the nation condemn these senseless massacre on the Plateau in no unmistakable terms. All the security agencies should see this as a great challenge and urgently deploy their professionalism to bring this to an end.
Their (security operatives’) efforts would be in vain if the perpetrators are not unmasked and brought to judgment.”
Women in Chugwi village of Vwang district of Jos South local government area, protested to the traditional ruler of the area.
The women who wore black attires, carried cross and thorns on their heads, as they were singing Christian songs, matched to the village head of Chugwi, Da, and Wakili Gundong’s palace and to the district head with their message to the authority.
They also carried placards with so many inscriptions, and expressed great worry on the roles played by security personnel, especially soldiers, who, they alleged had taken sides to ensure that their population was cut down, especially during the latest’s attacks in Dogo Nahawa village in the council area.
Leader of the women, Mrs. Sarah A. Dennis told the district head, The Gwom Rwei Vwang, Da. Choji K. Balat that the actions of Fulani during the several crises has brought untold hardship to mothers and children, insisting that enough-is-enough.
The Chugwi community, they alleged had lost over 250 women, since 2001 and able bodied family men and youths, who left behind women and children who are finding life difficult to bear, coupled with the economic situation in the country.
According to her, the community has also lost over 2000 cattle to the crises.
She said: “The Hausa\Fulani did not only engage in killing our people, they steal their husbands’ livestock as well.
“We now live in fear, as reports indicate that their tormentors said they would come back anytime to finish the unfinished business, as Chugwi has been listed as one of the villages lined up for attacks.”
After emerging from three hours behind closed doors yesterday, the Senate called on the Presidency to publish and implement all previous recommendations on Jos crisis.
There was fresh hostility, in Jos South local government in the early hours of Sunday which left hundreds of people dead and properties destroyed.
By Moses Gbande, Jos, Lateef Ibrahim & Ayodele Adegbuyi, Abuja