Plateau: Group Lobbies FG to Lift Emergency Rule
By Sheriff Balogun
A Christian group, the International Covenant Ministerial Council (ICMC) has intensified efforts at lobbying the federal government to lift the state of emergency in Plateau State and to re-integrate the people into the democratic process.
A press release jointly signed by the councils president and secretary Bishop Sam Amaga and Rev. Jide Ayangbesan respectively stated that, the issue of the state of emergency in Plateau State has generated a lot of interest and concern across the country adding that Plateau state has suffered bastardization from the hands of fundamentalists militia men.
The group further said "these militia men from God-knows-where come to villages in Plateau State in the night and destroy, ransack, rape, maim the indigenes and of course when that has happened more than two, three or four times, the people are pushed to a point to react in a deadly manner".
"According to ICMC, they reacted the way they did and this tells us the operators of governance in the action that we must do everything to be sure that issues like these are not allowed to escalate before they are handled".
The group however stressed that, if as at the time when the militia were attacking villages, the issue was handled and the culprits apprehended and brought to justice, the issue would never have come to this point.
It pointed out that similar riots had occurred in places like Kano State and also in Kaduna State and not for once was such punishment meted out, and hope that the peace-loving people of Pleteau State are not being made to pay the price for other people's peace.
The group said "they are willingly turning in their weapons, we do also want the government to ensure that the militia are brought to book and their weapons confiscated. We do not want to have a situation where Pleteau indigenes turn in their weapons and become defenceless only to be seen as unsacred and alas murdered by the militia who all of the time are heavily armed".
ICMC noted that the elders of Plateau State have toed the line of peace and attested to the fact that Mr. President just visited the state to see for himself that peace now prevails there, adding that they strongly implore that the state of emergency be lifted so as not to send out any wrong signal that Plateau State is being used as a scape goat.
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