ASHENEWS reports that the Middle Belt Journalists Forum (MBJF) has called on the security agencies, operating to maintain peace in Plateau state, to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of attack in the state.
The Forum, in a statement jointly signed by the National President and Secretary, Mr. Mark Mayah and Mrs Ladi Emmanuel, on Saturday, specifically called on the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Christopher Musa, other Service Chiefs, and the top echelon of the security and defence formations in the country, to save the Middle Belt region from the deadly attacks by terrorists, who have laid siege on several communities in the region.
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The Forum described the resurgence of violence in the region as tragic, adding that those responsible for the attacks and killings, which have assumed a monumental proportion, should be arrested and prosecuted.
“The region which seems to be the sole target for these genocidal attacks has remained under the stranglehold of the killers for over two decades.
“The most recent of this genocide was the reoccurring maiming and killing of no fewer than 50 innocent citizens in Bagana, Otutubatu, Iyade, Agbenema, Agojeju-Odo in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi state; the massacre in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State where 28 people were killed on April 17, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State where over seventeen people were killed, and Plateau State University, Bokkos campus where some students were gunned down by the herdsmen /terrorists,” the statement reads.
The Journalists forum frowned at the spate of killings in the zone, noting that governments at federal and state level are not doing enough to stem the menace.
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The forum also calls for the proper levelling of what is happening in the region in terms of human carnage and that the current classifying the catastrophy as farmers/herdsmen conflict is very wrong; saying it’s simply a genocide, and so the need to change the narrative in the media.
“The situation where hapless natives are murdered in cold blood in their sleep can not be described as a farmers -herders crisis.
The Middle Belt Journalists Forum is calling on the Federal government to do all that is required to save the region from the current systematic genocide.
“The life of every Nigerian is sacred and important and it is the responsibility of the federal government to protect the masses against internal and external aggression. It is high time the authority sit-up to its primary responsibility of securing the federation.
“We are also appealing to the Inspector General of Police, all the Service Chiefs and the National Security Adviser to swiftly intervene and thoroughly investigate the cause of the persistent killings. We seek humanitarian assistance for those displaced by the conflict.
“We share in the grief of the families of those that lost their lives in the unfortunate incidents and call on the people to be steadfast and cooperate with the men of our security forces for the restoration of lasting peace” .
“The MBJF demands for the recovery of public schools, health care facilities and farmlands currently being occupied by these suspected terrorists, the statement reads.
