• Laments killing of infants
A PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) senator, Gyang Pwajok, on Tuesday blamed "external groups" for the incessant attacks on rural communities in Plateau State, urging the residents to unite against the menace.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Pwajok as saying, in a statement in Jos, that "the modalities and nature of the attacks indicate that these groups of attackers are largely external to Plateau and the sole aim is the decimation of the people in a bid to destabilise the state.
"Clearly, what they want is to stifle our determination to shun violence, embrace and trust one another so as to live as brothers in peace."
The senator, who described the attacks as "a hallmark of organised and specialised terror with no empathy or regard for human dignity", advised the residents to quickly realise that they must unite "so as to overcome these trying times".
"We must ask ourselves who is perpetrating these inhuman crimes while actively and practically seeking answers together," he said.
Pwajok particularly condemned the recent attacks on Kwogom Village in Vwang District of Jos-South during which more than 10 persons, including women, children and infants, were allegedly killed, and described it as the "highest level of cruelty".
Rejecting the suggestions that the attacks were results of local conflicts between Berom farmers and Fulani herdsmen, Pwajok said: "It cannot be as simple as that; after all, we have never seen a Fulani herdsman wearing a bulletproof vest and uniform to herd cattle.
"What we have is some guerrilla style of attacks that have assumed consistent pattern adopted by conflict merchants who have made Plateau a frontline state for their operations."
The lawmaker also noted that some of the villages being attacked had never been theatres of any previous conflict, as they had remained strong examples of peaceful settlements.
He expressed disgust that innocent infants were being targeted. "Such attacks on children and women, even during wars, is abhorred and forbidden in every religion and society. The Geneva Convention of 1949 and the additional protocols, which are the core international humanitarian law, forbid it," he said.
Pwajok called for more intelligence-gathering techniques to help security agents tackle the situation and also called for prompt prosecution of people so far arrested in connection with the attacks.
He challenged the security agencies to investigate allegations of complicity levelled against some of its men, saying that efforts should be made to rid the system of bad eggs to restore public confidence in security personnel.
The senator commended traditional rulers in Plateau State for their efforts to boost interactions among the people, which he noted, had led to the stability in the state capital.
He advised them to continue to rebuff all provocations to be goaded into conflict.
The Guardian