More than one week after residents fled Plateau communities in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Mangu Local Government Areas following the Christmas Eve attacks by gunmen which left more than 150 persons dead, the affected communities are still deserted.
The PUNCH reports that the killing which had been ongoing in Plateau State worsened on Christmas Eve when gunmen attacked over 25 communities, killing over 150 persons.
The gunmen also burnt several houses and property worth millions of naira while over 10,000 persons were displaced
Some of the attacked communities included Mangur village, Mbar, Tangur; Bokkos Central, Butura, and Mushere among others.
Our correspondent who visited the affected communities, including Matellem, Dung, Yelwa and Ngyong, on Friday, observed that the villages were deserted.
There was also no security presence in the affected communities.
At Mbar community where a pastor, four of his children and his wife were among those said to have been killed, our correspondent saw charred remains of other residents who were burnt beyond recognition littering the floor of their burnt houses.
A peace advocate, Gideon ParaMallam, who led a team of his Peace Foundation to Bokkos Communities to sympathize with the people on Friday expressed concern over the level of devastation in the communities.
ParaMallam also visited the Internally Displaced Persons camped at different locations including the COCIN Church in Bokkos and donated some relief materials including mattresses, bags, and foodstuffs to them
Speaking with journalists, ParaMallam said, “We have come here to Bokkos and, we have seen and heard from the people. The attacks in Bokkos villages have been very devastating. The loss of lives and the degrading of human dignity have been very painful.
“Our foundation came to make a call for peace and appeal to the people of Bokkos for restraints. We have also come to see things for ourselves so that we can promote the cry for justice for the people of Bokkos.
“Our peace foundation believes in peace-building that is predicated on justice. That useless narrative that goes around that makes it look as if it is Bokkos people who have been fighting and killing themselves is a complete fallacy and a lie.
“Bokkos people are not killing themselves. We have talked with them and heard from them and I believe that our visit will not only throw more light on what Bokkos people have gone through but to encourage Nigerians to rise in unison to condemn the terrorism that took place on Christmas Eve and right after that. The only way to bring peace to Bokkos communities is to return residents to their communities”
Our correspondent who visited the burnt palace of the paramount ruler of Bokkos at about 5 pm on Friday saw a thick billowing smoke still oozing out from the burnt palace.
Soldiers who were drafted to the area were also seen guarding the palace.
It was learnt that the paramount ruler fled the community with members of his family before protesting women set his place on fire.
The Chairman of Community Peace Observers in Bokkos LGA, Kefas Mallai, told our correspondent that the protesting women burnt the palace of the paramount ruler because they believed he had abandoned the people to their fate over the attacks in their communities.
He said, “The people are angry at the district head of Bokkos and that is why they went and set his house ablaze because they believe he has compromised his duty to speak and protect the people.
“Just yesterday, some of the youths who went to look after their burnt communities were arrested by soldiers. The women saw that as unfair and injustice and wanted them to be released as they could not understand why the soldiers would leave terrorists and arrest people who were victims. And in all of these, the paramount ruler was nowhere to be found and so they went and burnt his house ”
The Chairman of Bokkos LGA, Monday Kassam, in an interview blamed the military for the fresh tension in the local government.
He said, “When the people who went to look after the attacked communities were arrested by the soldiers, about 10 of them were arrested. I got the information and I called the Commander and told him what was happening and asked that those people should be released. They should release them but he did not listen. So that is the problem but we have been talking to the people so that the issue can be resolved ”
It was learnt that a new commander had been deployed to Bokkos following the attacks in the communities.
The new Commander of Operation Safe Haven in charge of Bokkos, Lt. Col. Isaac Indiorhwer, however, allayed fears of any fresh attack in the communities and assured all that they were doing everything possible to restore peace in the troubled communities.
The Commander spoke on Friday when the President of Gideon and Funmmi ParaMallam Peace Foundation visited the Command’s headquarters in Bokkos after a tour of the troubled communities.
He also dismissed the claim that troops had abandoned the troubled communities.
The Commander said, “Today (Friday) makes it days since I was deployed to Bokkos. We have been patrolling the communities. It’s only today that we did not go out.
“We have also been engaging the communities. Infact, we will have a meeting with the chairman and other stakeholders tomorrow. I can assure you that the next news story you will be getting is that peace has returned to Bokkos and other communities in Plateau State “
