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The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned in the strongest terms what it described as the gruesome and sustained attacks carried out on citizens on a daily basis across Plateau State.
The NBA said that the attacks are an invitation to anarchy and could lead to a complete breakdown of law and order.
The association particularly noted the recent sustained attacks in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bokkos Local Government Areas of the state, which have left in their wake tens of people killed and dozens of others injured.
Speaking at a press briefing at the NUJ Press Centre in Jos on Monday, the association frowned at the apparent lackadaisical attitude of government at all levels in failing to live up to its responsibility to protect lives and property.
In the text of the briefing signed by the Chairman, Jos Branch, Morgan I. Dung, Chairman, Pankshin Branch, Selven D. Zingman, Chairman, Bukuru Branch, Lucy Pam-Fom Bot and Chairman, Shendam Branch, Sylvia Kumtong, the association said that the unabated cycle of violence unleashed on law-abiding citizens denigrates the social contract and undermines public confidence in the state.
More disturbing to the association was the fact that the killings had continued despite the declaration of a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the three local government areas.
The association said, “The Nigerian Bar Association condemns in the strongest terms the gruesome and sustained attacks carried out on citizens on a daily basis across Plateau State, with the most recent occurring in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bokkos Local Government Areas of the state, which have left in their wake undesirable results. This painfully confirms the fact that there is an insufficient commitment to constitutional responsibility.”
“It is equally disturbing that in the wake of recent attacks and the imposition of a curfew in the areas mentioned above, terrorists disrespected the curfew and freely attacked communities obeying the order.”
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The lawyers also expressed dismay that while locals were encouraged to defend themselves, they have themselves become targets of killings and indiscriminate attacks.
The NBA recalled that some community vigilantes of Kikyau village in Mangu Local Government Area were killed at their duty post by terrorists during the said curfew hours.
“Similar ugly developments have been reported in Kantoma and Bin-Per villages in Mangu Local Government Area, as well as Kassa village, Wereh village, Ropp, Fan and Marit Districts in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.
“This is an invitation to total anarchy and complete breakdown of law and order. The cycle of bloodletting perpetrated by these non-state actors paints a troubling picture of impunity on the one hand and a seeming complicity or helplessness of the state on the other.
“When perpetrators of violence ply their stock-in-trade unabated and sometimes evade justice, it sends a dangerous message that human life is expendable in Nigeria and consequently, citizens are fast losing faith in the ability of the state to protect them.
“It is also a notorious fact that some communities in Plateau State have been completely sacked over some decades and their lands forcefully grabbed, occupied and even renamed by their invaders while their survivors remain displaced aborigines.”
While appreciating the efforts of the federal government for visiting Plateau and condoling with the people, the NBA urged the government at all levels to make the protection of lives and property its priority.
