Governors of the Six North Central States have urged the federal government to get to the root of the problem causing the incessant attack and killing of people in Plateau State stating clearly that the attack was not a herder-farmer clash.
Speaking on Tuesday, Chairman of the North Central Governors Forum and Governor of Nassarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, warned that the attack was similar to the genocide that happened in Rwanda in 1994, which led to the killing of about 800,000 members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group.
Governor Sule who led his colleagues on a condolence visit to Plateau State Governor Caleb Muftwang in Jos stated that it was not about the tribe but about criminals who seek to destroy the region.
He said, “We have seen a similar situation in Rwanda because I won’t call what is happening in Plateau farmer-herder crisis. It’s not. We have seen what happened in Rwanda and luckily, all four of us governors were there and we listened to the President of Rwanda when he told us about the courage that he took to invite everybody involved and look at the root causes.
“We cannot allow a few people for selfish reasons to come in and destroy all of us. This is not about Fulani. It is about criminals and we are asking the Federal Government to assist us and deal with the problem.
“When we were coming, we talked about the peace that we have always enjoyed on the Plateau; the love that has always been there, the period that some of us would walk from Dilimi, Rex, Kwararafa, the New Era, and back to Kasua Dareng.Those loving periods that all the people in Plateau used to enjoy; what has happened?
“Your Excellency, we came all the way to ask you to take the courage to find out the root cause of this matter because we can’t continue to live like this.
“We are here to share with you whatever situation you find yourself in. I was here on a similar sad note, together with our delegation from Nasarawa State when it happened during the period of your predecessor. And during the period we asked specifically for the religious leaders to be the ones in the majority because we wanted to talk directly with our religious leaders, to talk to them about the need to continue to preach peace to our people.”
Mutfwang, in his remarks, thanked the governors for their concern over the situation in Plateau, noting that the people of the state were desirous of unity and progress.
Governor Sule who was accompanied by governors of Niger and Benue states, Mohammed Bago and Rev Father Hyacinth Alia, donated N100 million to the victims of the Christmas Eve attack in the State.
Source: Sahara Reporters
