Plateau Killings Should Not Be Tagged Herder-Farmer Clashes; It's Similar To Rwandan Genocide – North-Central Governors

By Olayinka Awofadeju 

The Chairman of the North Central Governors Forum and Governor of Nassarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, who made this known on Tuesday said what was happening in Plateau State 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.

Governors in the six North-Central states have stated that the Plateau killings where hundreds of people were killed, others displaced should not be tagged herder-farmer clashes.

The Chairman of the North Central Governors Forum and Governor of Nassarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, who made this known on Tuesday said what was happening in Plateau State 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.

The NCGF chairman, on Tuesday, led his colleagues on a condolence visit to the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, in Jos, during which they donated N100million to the victims of the Christmas Eve attack.

Abdullahi Sule who was accompanied by governors of Niger and Benue states, Mohammed Bago and Rev Father Hyancinth Alia, respectively lamented the attacks and killings in Plateau State by gunmen, while calling on the Nigerian government to do everything possible to get to its roots and find a permanent solution.

He explained that the attacks in Plateau had persisted for too long, adding that it is time that Federal Government should get to the roots of the problem and find a lasting solution.
Sule said the NCGF was in Plateau to sympathise with the governor, wondering what had happened to the peace that used to be enjoyed.

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 actually invite everybody that is 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 in 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.