How Many More And How Long? - By Dama Simon Yonmi

 Plateau State is paying dearly for its hospitality in one of the most cruel manner which remains unchecked all this while just because we are Plateau.

Those barbarians have a filled day inflicting pains and trauma on indigenes whose only crime is their identity. 

One would wonder if slaughtering his neighbor's chicken is not more difficult than Plateau people and still get away without tension.

 

Politics aside, no government official can protect life of any person anywhere but laws can if implemented, no security can equally prevent all sorts of attacks on armless civilians but prompt response and onslaught on perpetrators can stop reoccurrence and escalation.

But what we have here on the Plateau is just a mere stage managed eye service responses by both the government and its complicit security outfits.

It started with the Taroh in (Wase) and (Langtang South) then Berom  (Jos South and Barkin Ladi)  all Plateau was silent. 

It then took a u-turn to Bokkos and unleash the most embarrassing terror attack on natives where a Paramount ruler got beheaded yet Plateau only made press release.

Then to Riyom on Berom again and Aten where my friend *Sung Moro* wrote from Ganawuri; "Regrettably, IDP camps are sprouting out in geometry outnumbering communities" 

Then Bassa where one of the biggest military barracks in West Africa is situated yet hours after hours innocent and defenseless civilians were brutally massacred.

 Then the Anaguta (Jos North) Were Yelwa Gazam suffers one of the worst hit.

According to Stefanos foundation report of 2021 , out of the " 831 Irigwe natives killed by Fulani herdsmen in Bassa 796 is between 2015 & September *2021* " not to talk of 12,411 houses of Irigwe alone burned. 

Stefanos also recorded " 102 communities grabbed by Fulani (Jihadists) are spread across Bassa, Bokkos, Riyom & Barkin-Ladi local government of Plateau State" this is apart from thousands of death recorded so far orchestrated by Fulani herdsmen and thousands of houses destroyed. one will be tempted to doubt this reality but of course its real.

Now its Mangu, who will be next? 

Yet Plateau is Silent.

In Qua'an-Pan, the long abandoned Pandam game has became a safe haven for these deviant kidnapping People from Shendam and Quaan- Pan into the thick forest and collecting huge ransoms to equip their armory, yet Plateau is silent.

We fight ourselves to the mud during politics but watch in cowardice as our aged parents, brothers and sisters including children got buried in mass grave, taking the leads on media headlines without a uniform efforts in defense.

Our blood flows till it clot on our street and it rains blood instead of water on our farmlands yet Plateau is silent.

We shiver when its night on the Plateau because we wouldn't know who is next.

In most of these unprovoked attacks, they most often tried as much as possible to give it a religious color to change the narrative and attract sympathy but of course its not and only the blind cannot see it. Its just an ethnic cleansing on Plateau natives.

Lately, personalities who called for self defense were hypocritically lambasted by unpatriotic praise singers  who made merry out of the attacks.

But one thing remained unchallenged "there will always be next and for long as far as we just watch"

Dama Simon Yonmi

An ethnic and Religious Youth Leader on the Plateau.