Mr Phil pee PUBLIC AWARENESS : OPINION: THE NIGERIA MIDDLE-BELT’s IDPs AND THE UNREPORTED EFFORTS OF HON. EDWARD G. PWAJOK (SAN)

REALITYNEWSPAPER.COM.NG

Letting The People Know

OPINION: THE NIGERIA MIDDLE-BELT’s IDPs AND THE UNREPORTED EFFORTS OF HON. EDWARD G. PWAJOK (SAN)

August 19, 2019 admin

By: Valentine Adese (JP),

It all started as a joke and rumour when indigenes of Nigeria North Central Zone (Middle-Belt) began to cry aloud that they were under attack.

The first hit were the famers in the zone, who could not go near their farms in early 2006 to 2007 across the belt, which led to prices of food stuffs and other produce of the farmers in this zone for over centuries, started becoming scarce and then pulling up prices.

Many farmers at this period under review in the middle belt, started to relocate from their farm houses to various towns/cities, to seek for white collar jobs, which are hardly available.

In late 2008, the states in the Middle-Belt, especially, Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba in the North East, began to experience human destructions, as killing of the farmers, who refused to relocate from their farm lands became targets of then unknown invaders.

The peak of the killings in Plateau State was at its zenith during the “Dogo Nahawa Massacre,” where both farmers and non-farmers, men, and women, (old and young) were killed.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within the zone continued to swell. In Plateau State, attempt by elected politicians to speak and address the IDPs in a designated area in Barkinladi, led to the death of two valuable sons of the state, Late Distinguished Senator, Dr. Gyang Dantong and Hon. Gyang Fulani.

The Killings continued up to 2014, before a new administration came in for most of the various north central (Middle-Belt) states in 2015.

The victory of most of the politicians, who won their elections during this period were very much based on their political campaign promises that, they would put their lives on the line for the killings in the zone to stop.

Their victory came and passed, but the killings are yet to be abated. The IDPs’ camps have continued to swell without adequate attention to the victims of “unknown provoked silent war of land”.

Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) have put themselves and their resources on the line to bring hope and happiness to these IDPs, as various governments have also attempted to allocate funds for their welfare, health and education.

In the Middle-Belt, these government assistance and responsibilities seem to be more on paper and verbal speeches without commensurate action.

While justice is delivered in other parts of the country, especially, in the far Northern states and on the same IDP issues that, of the Middle-Belt has only received the granting of an order for joinder to benefit, which was later overruled.

The worst situation the IDPs are facing, especially, in Plateau and Benue States, is that there is no comprehensive data kept by the States or Federal Government with respect to their age, sex, health and educational standard. So, an IDP may get missing without trace especially with the on growing ritual killings in the country.

More to the pains of concerned Nigerians is the fact that, more killings are recorded in the country today, despite, those who promised to put their lives on the line for the people to bring peace in order to abate the killings have won the elections. Facts are that, the killings from reports have now gone circle and the situation have gone beyond the ability of the security operatives, to control.

Could it be interpreted that the Electees have began to fail the people of the Middle-Belt states again.

The killings from findings have jumped from their early Tens to Hundreds of Hundreds and the IDPs have increased into their Thousands. The killings in Agatu in Benue and Barkingladi/Jos South in Plateau States, readily comes to mind, as those killed in these areas have jumped to their Hundreds in recent times.

This is where the efforts of Edward Gyang Pwajok (SAN) from 2007 to 2015 need to be replicated.

E.D PWAJOK SAN

The ability to persuade the Federal Government to identify the perpetrators of the unending killings, the reason for their killings and the need to try them where they commit such heinous crimes, which Pwajok (SAN) had help to establish through the pronouncements of Courts and the Plateau State House of Assembly, as the then Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice need to be replicated and domesticated by the various states in the Middle Belt.

You would recall that in the course of identifying the whereabouts, of late General Ali’s body, his kidnapers or killers, the situation was about to become a military confrontation on the people of Du in Plateau State before caution was exercised, with the intervention of the House of Representatives through the holistic presentation of the matter by Edward Pawjok (SAN), to his colleagues in the 8^th Assembly.

It is therefore of human importance, that now that most politicians have won their 2019 elections on several grounds, the people of Nigeria Middle-Belt should hold them responsible and accountable for the welfare, relocation and security of IDPs in the zone.

Facebook Twitter google_plus