The Hausa-Fulani terrorists of Nigeria have struck again, this time in the Plateau State city of Jos where their fanatical lunacy have claimed the lives of more than four (400) innocent Nigerians particularly of the disinterested Igbo origin. You may call it whatever you want, either political or religious riots, but at Icheokudotcom, we call it what it is - TERRORISM!India's interior minister and their national security adviser have since resigned their offices following the Mumbai massacre but the authorities in Nigeria is yet to take full responsibility for the hell let loose in Jos by asking for the heads of their interior minister as well as other persons entrusted with safe-guarding the lives and properties of these dead and displaced Nigerians. Icheokudotcom says this lack of responsibility is the bane of Nigeria and the single reason for this kind of repeat-tragedies bedeviling this African nation. Somebody has to take the fall for the next guy to buckle up.
These crazed-out Hausa-Fulani mobs in addition to the several lives they untimely dispatched to the world beyond, also burned homes, shops, cars, vehicles, mosques and churches. As always, these urchins find one excuse or another to let out this their nefarious penchant for violating the sanctity of human lives - this time it was a disputed local government council elections that was used as a cover-up?
According to our findings, this latest mayhem was provoked after rumours spread that the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate backed by Hausas had lost the race! Icheokudotcom says the implication of this Hausa-Fulani maniacal machination is that it must always be them, otherwise people have to be slaughtered like thanksgiving turkeys? For additonal reading, click the link:-
JOS MAYHEM
ReplyDeleteHow they killed our husband –Pregnant wives
From EBOMHIANA MUSA and PAUL ORUDE, Jos
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
•The pregnant wives with their children
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Two pregnant housewives have recounted the chilling details of how their husband was brutally killed by rampaging youths who shot him and then burnt their house to ashes.
Hafsatu Mallam Muhammadu and Adama Muhammadu who said they narrowly escaped added that they watched helplessly as their husband died of gun shots in the neck at FOMWAN Hospital in Gangere where he was rushed to after he was shot and beaten to pulp.
The two distraught housewives, who spoke amidst tears to Daily Sun on Tuesday, four days after the sad incident, said they managed to escape without being able to carry any personal effects from their house in Tudun Wada area in Jos Metropolis as it was completely razed by rioters.
The senior wife, Hafsatu, 30, mother of five told Daily Sun, " I was in the house when the crisis started. My husband asked me to wait to see what was happening. I was scared. I wanted to run. He told me that I shouldn’t worry that there would be no problem. He didn’t know it was serious. Later, I jumped over the fence with my five children, even though I am four months pregnant."
Hafsatu said she and her five children went to one Liman’s house for safety. She said further, "My husband then went to the mosque and that was when he was shot in the neck."
Hafsatu, who is currently taking refuge at the Government Secondary School, Gangare along with her mate and thousands of other displaced persons, said efforts to save her husband’s life were in vain as he gave up few hours later.
Adama, the second wife of the deceased, escaped the same time with the senior wife and her children.
"It was a horrible experience," she said. "After we stayed at Liman’s house for a while, they came there and attacked again and we escaped. We trekked to Bukuru for hours for fear of being killed and to look for food. We were very hungry and tired. We had no where to run to. I am pregnant, my first, and it was a very difficult experinmce for me. My mate encouraged me to be strong, otherwise, I almost fainted," Adama added.
Adama said she was the one who alerted the other wife that it was dangerous to remain in the house.
She said, "I was waiting outside not too far from the mosque in my area when someone came and asked me to leave that it was not safe. I immediately went into the house to inform my mate."
Hafsat said they made their escape after waiting for their husband who had earlier gone to the mosque.
"When I didn’t see him, I was sacred. But news later came to us that he was shot in the neck. I was with him at the hospital but he couldnt speak and later he died.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Information, Comrade Nuhu Gagara, has confirmed that over 250 persons have been killed since the crisis erupted on Friday.
In an interview with Daily Sun in his office on Tuesday, Gagara said the state government has spent close to N80 million to take care of the victims who were displaced by the crisis.
He said food itmes, cloths, grains, drugs and other relief materials are being distributed daily among the displaced persons scattered in 20 different centres within Jos.
The commissioner disagreed with those who attributed the crisis to disagreement arising from the local election hled last week, noting that PDP was firmly on ground and had no oppostion in the state.
He said all the state EXCO members of the supposed main opposition party in the state, the AC, except the chairman have decamped to the PDP.
He, therefore, said there was no basis for any meaningful challenge or opposition against the dominace of the PDP.
However, officials of the Jamatul Nasiral Islam (JNI), highly disputed the figure being bandied by the state government.
As at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, 17 fresh bodies in two different vans were being shifted out of the Jos Central mosque for mass burial.
Five corpes in military uniform were sighted under the Nassarawa Gwom bridge as passersby gathered to take a pathetic glimpse at them.
The state police Commissioner, Mr Samson V. Wudah in company of the AIG zone 4, Mr. Richard Chime, toild Daily Sun at the state police command that the police authorities were on top of the sitruation.
He said more enforcement (men and materials) were being deployed from neighbouring states to beef up security on ground.
They condemned what they called outrageous figures being published by foreign media.
Meanwhile, curfew is still in force in the metropolis, even as the banks remain shut. Customers who daily beiseige the banks are groaning as they find it impossible to access funds.
Except for few shops which are opened for business, activities in the city remain paralysed.
Jos Crisis: Danjuma Calls For Probe Of Security Agencies
ReplyDeleteCrisis Not Over, Says Lawmaker
From Isa Abdulsalami, Jos
Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Theophilous Danjuma (rtd) has implored the Federal Government to investigate the role of security agencies in the crisis that rocked the city of Jos, Plateau State, last week.
And just as the people count their losses in the sectarian violence resulting from the local government elections of November 27, a member representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Bitrus Kaze, has warned that the crisis is far from being over.
"Let it be stated clearly that the perpetrators of the Jos mayhem are not relenting and nobody should be deceived that the crisis is over. It is important for this alarm to be raised at this moment. The Jos crisis, as far as the perpetrators of this heinous act are concerned, is not over; they are planning to strike again," Kaze said.
Responding to Governor Jonah Jang's statement during his visit to the state, that security report assured him that there would be no problem, Gen. Danjuma wondered why there could be such report yet the violence still took place. According to him, it means there was a failure on the part of the intelligence service.
The former Minister of Defence advocated the setting up of a high-powered commission of inquiry to investigate the causes, adding that the instigators, sponsors and perpetrators needed to be identified and punished to serve as deterrent against a recurrence.
"A Judicial Commission of Inquiry should be set up to determine what happened and make recommendations. It is only when justice is done and seems to have been done that the frequent crisis can be averted,'' he said.
Gen. Danjuma stated that the use of violence to settle political, religious or ethnic scores was inimical to the efforts towards building a modern, democratic and prosperous nation, adding that the unfortunate crisis was a setback to the efforts to promote unity, security and development in northern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole.
He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government and the Plateau State government to go beyond palliative measures and promote genuine reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction, adding that the government needed to invest in mass education to equip and empower youths for productive living and create jobs for them through revival of agriculture and public work.
Responding, Governor Jonah Jang said it was impossible for any society to progress and for democracy to strive under crisis, adding that it was unfortunate that such crisis occurred in the state for the second time.
The governor, who debunked the claim that the crisis was caused by the local government election, said the election was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere without any rancour, adding that it was at the collating stage that some group of people started killing innocent citizens in Jos North Local Council.
Said he: "If it was a political crisis, one expected them to descend on government property, PLASIEC building but none of these were touched. Instead, Churches and other private residents were set ablaze.''
Kaze said there were clandestine and nocturnal meetings being summoned in some places of worship within Jos, involving some fundamentalists and former top-ranking officials of government. "They are planning to launch an offensive again using the inauguration of the elected local government council chairmen, especially that of Timothy M. Buba no matter when it holds," he said.
Kaze continued: "They are plotting to resort to any option to prevent him from being sworn-in and or assuming duties in his new office. We cannot risk relying on the confirmation or empty assurances of some Security Chiefs on this one any longer. We have sounded this alarm early enough for Nigerians to know and to watch events as they unfold in Plateau State. Jos is a miniature Nigeria and any threat to peace and security easily resonates across this huge nation."
He called on peace-loving citizens of the state to eschew violence in all its ramification and embrace civilized and legal means of expressing and assuaging their grievances. "We must all do every thing possible to desist from violence and not engage in behaviour that will jeopardize our hard earned peace." Kaze warned.
Kaze, at a press conference, corroborated newspaper reports that the election was peaceful. But "in the wee hours of Friday November 28, 2008, security reports filtered in that some irate youths had taken to the streets at Ali Kazaure Street with lethal weapons allegedly aggrieved at the perceived defeat of their preferred candidate in the elections even when results were still being collated and were yet to be announced.
It is common knowledge that on receiving this security report, Governor Jang immediately summoned Security Chiefs in the State and consulted them in two separate meetings, they left with a clear directive to checkmate any threat to peace. He also requested for the deployment of more security personnel from the Nigeria Army, Air Force and other Para-military agencies. It is my considered opinion that he deserves to be commended for rising up to the occasion early or else that carnage could have been worst," he stressed.