Ending bloodbath in Plateau State, Middle Belt By Kwamkur Samuel

It is sad to receive another news of massive killings and destructions of over 200 lives and millions worth of properties of Plateau state citizens. I understand similar attacks are ongoing in parts of Taraba, Adamawa, Zamfara, Kaduna and Benue States amongst others.

I have been inundated with calls to speak up against this.  But each time I pick my pen to write about the killings and destructions of lives of innocent Nigerians, I feel I am exposing my weaknesses as a young Nigerian who would have looked for reliable and sustainable solution rather than waiting to lament and protest on the streets, pages of papers and social media after each attack. Nigerians are attacked and killed on daily bases despite assurances of safety by government and the large resources invested in the security sector and also the fact that there are security personnel stationed in most of the communities that are targets of these dastardly acts. It is most painful to note that our security forces perform excellently at the international levels yet the attacks continue unabated in Nigeria.

As a stakeholder in the Nigeria project, I have seen very little changes or improvements in our principles of governance and security arrangements. I can almost recite what the President of Nigeria, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Speaker of State Assemblies, the Governors, security chiefs, affected communities, religious leaders and others will say whenever there are attacks on any of the communities. I could predict which of the communities will be visited by the President and Vice president as the case may be and those attacks that will not receive any attention. I can predict the sentiments and responses of the security chiefs in each type of attack.

The bottom line remains that whether deliberate or not, no Nigerian leader at whatever level in government has any solution to what is happening in this country. This  is not that our leaders are incapable of reasoning out solutions to the challenges but the circumstances they find themselves mostly is either to struggle in vein or aid the attacks directly or indirectly.

When will these killings be stopped? We have succeeded in politicising issues of security of lives and property in Nigeria to the extent that one can easily predict the demeanor or sentiment of every authority on security issues in Nigeria especially when you listen to the way they define the issues and their perception of the way forward. This is beside the fact that a lot of people in authority make more money from crises. In fact, sometimes more monies are used in aiding the attacks than stopping them. All this wickedness of promoting attacks on innocent Nigerians are done on the premises of supporting religious beliefs, ethnic and or regional sentiments. When will Nigerians come to their senses? Complicating these unfortunate intricacies is the blame game syndrome. Once there is an attack, each group takes to pages of newspapers or social media to throw blames on each other. This, also, is a trick from our invaders to stop normal flow of reasoning towards solution.

When can these killings be stopped? The media, both at the local and international levels, are not left behind in this orchestrated conspiracy, given sentimental reportage and paintings based on whichever side they belong and want to project.

Who can save our people from complete annihilation!? Unless and until we rise to find a solution to our challenges, the nation’s leadership as presently constituted has no capacity to protect the citizens beside making promises of overcoming the issues with no visible effort to effect the pledges. If affected, Nigerians particularly those of us in the middle belt region must survive, then we must be deliberate in finding an independent solution. Our lives and that of every Nigerian is important.

We must start from defining properly what is happening to us to understanding the perception of those in authority as to what is happening to us and finding a way of surviving amidst conspiracy against us.

While we continue to sympathise with our communities, agitating for positive step from the authorities and putting up efforts to provide relief support for our people, let the young and creative minds search deeply for solutions for the sake of the future! Enough of the bloodletting in Plateau State and the Middle Belt.

***Kwamkur Samuel, a legal practitioner & National Director (Legal and Public Affairs), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), lives in Jos, Plateau State