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Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, has called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure that perpetrators of the Christmas Eve attacks in some communities of Plateau State are brought to book.
He also said it is time for the nation to rise collectively and stop the bloodshed, warning that if the perpetrators go scot-free in Plateau, such gruesome acts can also take place in any part of the country.
Dogara made his feelings known on Saturday during a solidarity visit to Governor Caleb Mutfwang, at his residence in Jos, the state capital, in the wake of the recent Christmas Eve attacks in some communities of Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu LGAs.
He described Plateau people as “peaceful, accommodating and hospitable”, who do not deserve the “dehumanising and unholy” acts inflicted on them.
He called for a holistic approach by all citizens across all faiths to halt banditry, terrorism and criminal activities in all parts of the country.
“The perpetrators of this violent act are not just crazy but they are dangerous. The truth is that they will not stop until we stop them and the Commander in Chief has the responsibility of stopping them.
“We must use the cohesive apparatus that we have to locate these people and their sponsors, scattered in the ungoverned spaces that we have in Nigeria, whether on the Plateau, Nasarawa, Southern Kaduna, Zamfara, the North East or the South.
According to him, “Wherever these people are, they must be located. After locating them, the Commander in Chief will have to either take justice to them or bring them to justice.
“Failure to bring them to justice has always been the bane of the fight against terrorism,” he decried.
Responding, Governor Mutfwang thanked him for the visit and said the true narrative of the killings in Plateau is not farmer-herder clashes but banditry and terrorism, which must be addressed holistically in that context.
He praised the willingness and the desire of President Bola Tinubu to end the carnage and said the president has shown political will in tackling the issues.
“With all boldness, I want to say that I see a desire for a shift with the current President.
“I see a desire to change the narrative, a desire to rewrite the story and get things right. I have interacted with him a couple of times and I see him carrying a burden to see how this issue will end.”
Mutfwang reiterated the commitment of his administration to work collaboratively with the Federal Government to bring to an end the carnage and decades of attacks that have claimed scores of lives in the state.
He also commiserated with the former Speaker on the demise of his mother, and prayed God to grant him the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
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