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Governor Lalong of Plateau State
By Diket Plang
The attention of the Plateau State Government has been drawn to a statement reportedly issued by the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), Emmanuel Onwubiko alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari and Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong have reportedly endorsed a ‘peace treaty’ between alleged aggressors of Fulani stock and Christians of Plateau State.
In the said statement, Onwubiko made very verbose and factless allegations against the duo and asked the people of Plateau State to hold their governor, Simon Lalong, responsible for unprecedented insecurity in the State.
Because his statement is filled with mischief, lies and sponsored propaganda, it is important to put the records straight before he misleads some gullible members of the Public.
We wonder what treaty Onwubiko is referring to which has been endorsed by Governor Lalong and President Buhari. If he is referring to the series of Dialogue and Accords the the Irigwe people and Fulani which took place during the attacks in Bassa last year when the Peace Building Agency brought together the two parties to find ways of addressing killings in their areas, then he is either very ignorant or deliberately mischievous.
Onwubiko who cut his teeth in journalism and activism in Plateau State at the State owned Nigeria Standard is fully aware that the people that were brought together are Irigwe and Fulani who have lived together for many years but have become victims of vicious killers and merchants of crises who attack innocent citizens on both sides, in dispute over ownership of Farmlands, not religion as insinuated in the writeup.
Is he saying that the two groups cannot come together to address their common challenges and agree on a pact to expose Criminal elements from the two sides who have wedged barriers between them despite the long history of peaceful coexistence? Can they not put in place measures to remove suspicion and rebuild trust which will help them identify and hand over criminals in their midst? How has the effort of the Plateau Peace Building Agency, which is on record as having held an unprecedented 34 Peace Dialogues ,between January and July, 2021 alone, suddenly turned into “negotiating with killers?”. If Onwubiko knows the killers he is referring to, he might as well assist the security agencies with their identities or at best forward same to the Governor. We categorically stand on the fact that Governor Lalong did not and has never “negotiated “with any killer in Plateau State.
Does Onwubiko realise that nobody, including Governor Lalong has ever promised any Amnesty to suspected killers in Plateau State? Does he also know that the security Agencies have continued to go after suspected killers on the directive of the Governor thereby making some arrests with prosecutions on-going?
It is now crystal clear that it is people like Onwubiko and his organisation in collaboration with some irresponsible elements of the opposition PDP-whose tired Narratives are discernable through the length and breadth of the writeup, who constantly fuel the embers of hate in Plateau State with their uuninformedand toxic rhetoric, often filled with misinformation and mischief. Little wonder, some of the parties that attend such sessions by the Plateau Peace Building Agency say one thing at the meeting and are quickly brainwashed by “activists and arm-chair critics” like HURIWA to issue Press releases soon after, denying their participation at such sessions and twisting facts of the proceedings for political gains.
It is not surprising that Onwubiko who has consistently proven to be a hireling and attack dog for the opposition PDP, will delve into the impeachment of former Speaker Ayuba Abok who the PDP wanted to use to discredit the Lalong Government and in the process, curry sympathy from deceived citizens in order to gain political relevance. Though their target was the Local Government Elections held in September last year, they woefully failed to realise their dream, and their naive and immature Abok was finally deservedly swept away like a pack of cards.
If the former Speaker Abok gave Government two weeks ultimatum to stop killings, was he not part of Government? Can Onwubiko cite one thing done by Abok to stop killings in the State apart from sponsoring demonstrators to remove corpses of victims from the Hospital and dump at the Government House in order to ridicule the Governor? Did Abok or the member of Bassa Constituency, who the opposition PDP readily use to Play politics with human lives in Bassa Local Government and who is the hardest hit by the attacks ever visit the victims of such attacks? They rather found the media houses more relevant to peddle their propaganda against Governor Lalong.
It is laughable that the impeachment saga which members of both political parties in the House have since put behind them , rallying around the new Speaker Rt.Hon. Yakubu Sanda, is still choking the Onwubikos and their PDP Sponsors. If they are still aggrieved, they can as well approach the Court or at best, restore Abok to office. Nevertheless, that is not the business of the Governor as the Plateau House of Assembly enjoys full autonomy granted by Governor Lalong which enables it to decide who leads them.
Reading through the story, one finds a clear attempt by HURIWA to religionise the attacks with a view to whipping up sentiments.
This will not only increase tensions, but also further widen the situation unnecessarily. We wonder what the organisation stands to gain from this. For HURIWA and Onwubiko’s irresponsible writeups with fabricated facts, such as the one in issue may attract more money from their PDP Sponsors and some gullible Donor Partners, but for us in Plateau State, we count the costs of fake Human Rights advocacy garnished with incitement to further violence, in tragic loss of Human Lives and destruction of properties of innocent Citizens of the State.
Finally, we wish to educate Onwubiko and HURIWA on why the people of Plateau State will remain grateful to Governor Lalong for his efforts to restore peace and security to Plateau State, a task he is handling well despite the desperation of crises merchants to restore the dark days when killings were rampant and life was difficult for all citizens, making visitors to run away and shun the State.
Governor Lalong in the last 6 and half years maintained security as his cardinal priority. He rejigged and revamped the Operation Rainbow; introduced Community Policing; Created Plateau Peace Building Agency; created more synergy between the State and Security Agencies in the State; Established the State Inter religious Council; Purchased and distributed hundreds of security vehicles, Motorcycles and other equipment to all security organs in the State; Signed into law the Anti Kidnapping bill; Built Watchtowers in strategic places in the city; empowered and engaged more vigilantes; signed into law the anti land grabbing bill and the anti violence bill; lobbied for the establishment of Mobile Barracks in Shandam and Airforce Base in Kerang among others.
Above all, he has remained resolute to being fair and just to all citizens and carrying them along in the governance of the State. This has endeared them to him for which they will certainly ignore the fabricated allegations of Onwubiko and HURIWA.
Hon. Plang is Special Adviser of Public Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State
