Despite Nigerian Army’s New More Aggressive Stance, Majority-Christian Plateau Suffers on
By Masara Kim
[Jos] Terrorist attacks on Christian villages in Central Plateau State Nigeria persist despite Nigerian military’s tough and aggressive responses to bandit raids in several Northwestern states by Fulani crime gangs.
Lawmakers speaking to TruthNigeria have called for a review of military rules and endorsing communities’ right to bear arms for self-defense. As of November 23, thousands have fled amid growing alerts of increased attacks in central Plateau State.
The attacks escalating in the lead up to Christmas might be aiming to exploit local farmers and as well discourage festive celebrations among local Christians, said a retired Major in the Nigerian army, Gabriel Ad’Ofikwu. “This is usually the period of harvest and of strengthening the Christian faith,” said Ad’Ofikwu to TruthNigeria.
“This means more food, more money, more fellowships and more evangelism which is what terrorists will not be comfortable with so they will do everything to disrupt that,” said Ad’Ofikwu in a telephone interview.
The overall objective of the attacks is to decimate Christian populations in the country starting with the middle belt region, wrote Dr. Franklyne Ogbunwezeh, a Senior Research Fellow and Director for Genocide Prevention at the Christian Solidarity International, Switzerland.
“The frequency of these killings, which have refused to abate, is indicative of a genocidal campaign to wipe out the native Christian population of the Middle Belt of Nigeria,” wrote Ogbunwezeh to TruthNigeria in a text message.
“The unwillingness and or the inability of the Nigerian government to stop these killings should be a source of concern to every right-thinking Nigerian,” Ogbunwezeh wrote.
“Every pint of innocent blood spilled by these Jihadists pushes the country closer to a religious war. The blood of the victims has been crying for justice. But the Nigerian government has failed to hearken to their pleas. It is quite unfortunate. President Tinubu should make the Middle Belts, the centerpiece of his national security policy and push resources and men, into restoring order and safeguarding the lives and property of all citizens of the Middle Belt,” Ogbunwezeh noted.
A member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Mr. David Lalu has called on communities to defend against attacks amid the government’s failure.
“Nobody should wait for government to protect them,” said Lalu who represents Mangu and Bokkos counties at the House of Reps.
“Communities must rise up and defend themselves from these attacks,” Lalu said in a telephone interview with TruthNigeria.
The Senator representing Plateau central district at the Nigerian Senate, Diket Plang agrees the military is failing.
“If you look at the ratio of our security to our population, you will agree it is too low,” said Plang in a telephone interview with TruthNigeria. “I am advocating for more people to be recruited into the military and for more deployments to be made to our communities,” Plang said.
“As humans we are compelled to defend ourselves from any threat or dangers,” wrote Kyle Abts, the Executive Director of the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON).
“Often this involves basic security measures, environmental risk assessment and competence,” Abts wrote in a text message to TruthNigeria.
“If the call to self-dense implies a call to bear arms then there must be legal and utilization considerations. Just having a weapon may not allow you to fire it legally or correctly,” he wrote.
Plateau State bore a heavy toll of death from terrorist raids since the beginning of 2023, according to Intersociety an international crime-tracking nonprofit in Onitsha, Anambra State. Intersociety reports at least 500 reported deaths in Plateau since January 1. In November alone, more than 15 residents, including eight citizen guards, fell victim to sporadic attacks 40 miles south of Jos, TruthNigeria has learned. Plateau’s share of the carnage is fully 20 percent of the total of killings nationwide – 2,500 – by armed bands speaking the Fulani language.
The most recent incident on November 20 in Mangu county, according to local youth leader Sunday Dankaka, resulted in the deaths of four people, including a town leader and three citizen guards who were rebuilding an abandoned military checkpoint. It was the latest in a series of ongoing assaults on Christian communities in the area linked to Fulani terrorists.
The sunny afternoon attack saw terrorists opening automatic fire at five residents at an abandoned military checkpoint near Gudum village, killing four, said Dankaka. The victims who were rebuilding the checkpoint previously demolished by Fulani militants, were attacked at 3 pm local time, he said.
The leader of the Fulani tribe in Plateau State, Nuru Mohammed has absolved his members of involvement in the attack.
“We also heard the gunshots just as everyone else and called the military to intervene,” said Mohammed, the Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association which advocates for Fulani residents in Plateau State.
The Fulani, a majority Muslim ethnic group with over 10 million members in Nigeria, includes some of the country’s most influential political elites. However, terrorists identifying as Fulani members have been implicated in allegedly pillaging and seizing hundreds of communities, committing thousands of genocidal massacres, according to various monitoring groups.
Five people previously were killed after terrorists launched separate attacks in two villages in the north of Plateau’s Bokkos County on November 15, according to locals. Three citizen guards standing watch in the town of Mai-hakorin-gold were the first victims of a late evening invasion that left several others injured, Philip Julson, the leader of a local development association told TruthNigeria.
“As it is right now, everyone is afraid. Many have fled to safer zones as a result of the threats. We have heard they want to attack again,” Julson said.
—Masara Kim is an award-winning conflict reporter based in Jos and the senior editor of TruthNigeria.com
