From Jude Owuamanam Jos
People of Mwaghavul nation in Mangu local government area of Plateau State have said that more than 600 people and 65,000 others have been displaced by the war of attrition waged against them by marauding Fulani herdsmen since 2023.
They also said that more than 30 villages have been taken over out of the 103 affected villages, while 6,111 houses were completely razed by the marauders.
Reeling out these figures at a press briefing at the NUJ Press Centre in Jos on Friday, the President of the Mwaghavul Youth Movement, Kyesmang Jonathan Yusuf, said that for these two years, the terrorists have neither shown any form of remorse for their atrocities nor regard for human life, rather, they have continued to target innocent Mwaghavul people either on their farms or anywhere outside their land.
He said, “As you well know the Mwaghavul Nation has been a victim of coordinated genocide committed by Fulani terrorists against our nation since 13th April, 2023. Although this genocide has become widespread in Nigeria, our local situation has been disturbing, given our shared mutual coexistence for decades
“Conflict is intrinsic to every society, which is why there are institutional and traditional ways of settling grievances. Sadly, the Fulani marauders in our land chose the path of violence in settling their grievances. Nowhere in the world have such strategies yielded positive results in conflict resolution.
“The unprovoked attacks on the Mwaghavul Nation have resulted in the sacking of over thirty villages out of 103 affected communities, displacement of over 65,000 villagers, grounding of 6,111 houses, and immense loss of over 600 lives aside from properties.
“Our people, particularly the youth community, have become soft targets of these criminals. It is imperative that we recognize the broader threat posed by these terrorists to the peace of our State and nation.
“They have resorted to the use of social media to propagate their lies against the Mwaghavul youth, forgetting that we have greater mastery of the social media but chose the path of decorum and peace.
“The Mwaghavul youth, and by extension the nation, is not the only victim of these terrorists on the Plateau. Our brothers the Ron, the Berom, the Irigwe, the Afizere, the Rukuba, and the Attakar in the Plateau North District and other ethnic nationalities have their share of the Fulani evils for decades, thus setting the Nigerian youths on the edge.
“Recently, a Fulani leader, the MACBAN Chairman of Mangu LGA made threats against the peace of our community in a viral video, and another individual, Bilal Gambo, a former resident at Jwakchan-Kwaghas between Pushit and Panyam District of Mangu LGA, made provocative and defamatory statements against our people.
“At this point, we will not conclude that the security agencies are still pretending not to have read or heard the threats issued by these terrorists.
The youths also debunked allegations that they deliberately poisoned Fulani cattle, insisting that the Fulani are rather carrying out economic sabotage by pushing their cows into their farms, which they treated with pesticides.
“The use of herbicides and other chemicals to protect farms by our farmers is a common legitimate practice. We urge the Government to support our farmers in their efforts to protect their crops. We are also aware that herders use certain vaccines on their animals that make their consumption hazardous to human beings at certain window periods. There are best agricultural practices among herders and farmers.
“The implications of these practices is that herders should educate their underaged children on the consequences of a deliberate abuse of farms that have been treated. Most adult herders know about this.
The youths called on the Nigerian Army to investigate the recent destruction of crops by the Fulani in Mangu and other parts of Mangu LGA.
“We call for unity among all tribes on the Plateau to stand together against this common enemy, the terrorists and urge the Government to provide security, investigate where these terrorists come from, and arrest and prosecute them.
“The Fulanis must expose the foreign terror groups hibernating amongst them to ensure trust. Together we will defeat the terror groups. Until they show such commitments, they are perceived as friends of our enemies. This has serious implications on their relationship with Nigerian citizens.”