Text Of A Press Conference On The Worsening Security Situation In Nasarawa State: Addressed By Stakeholders Of The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) In Nasarawa State
The security situation in Nasarawa State has worsened in recent weeks following the importation of large number mercenaries who have now embarked on widespread destruction of villages, towns and communities spread across Nasarawa South and Nasarawa North Senatorial Zones.
The mercenaries in their tens of thousands, who are armed with the latest assault weapons, have destroyed more than twenty-five towns and villages in the last two months.
They burn and destroy houses everywhere they go, shoot at people, slaughter women, children and the aged and destroy farmlands leading to widespread displacement of tens of thousands of people who have suddenly become refugees in different parts of the state.
The attacks, which are highly professional and military in nature, are carried out either in the night, early hours of the morning or even in broad daylight as the mercenaries have absolute superiority in weaponry and freedom of movement.
These mercenaries, who are kept in camps in Nasarawa North and Nasarawa South Senatorial Zones, are also supplied with vehicles, which they now use for sudden attacks on settlements, towns and villages.
Presently, the state is threatened with near collapse of public order while anarchy is increasingly becoming the order of the day.
Let it be stated clearly that all available information shows that what is going on is not an ethnic war between the Eggon and Fulani/Alago as widely claimed by the state government. On the contrary, the violent destruction of lives and properties is being carried out by imported mercenaries who are brought in by the Governor and his agents and are given specific instructions to wipe out communities, towns and settlements in a clear programme of political ethnic cleansing to achieve a specific political objective.
There is no doubt whatsoever that these mercenaries are hired and sustained by the state government to completely dislocate the voting population in order to enable Governor Al-Makura to return as governor of Nasarawa State in 2015.
There is definitely a careful programme of ethnic cleansing being executed to achieve a wicked and selfish political end by the APC-controlled state government under the leadership of Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
Whereas the governor pretends and continues to tell the world that it is an ethnic war, it is clear to most citizens of Nasarawa State that the state government is actually the one prosecuting and sustaining these attacks to achieve a definite political end in 2015 and beyond. Already tens of thousands of people have been displaced ahead of the forthcoming distribution of the Permanent Voters Cards, which means they will not be able to vote in the next election. Moreover, it is disheartening to note that the Governor who is not an INEC official was quoted as saying that 30% of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) have been issued to the citizens of the State, knowing fully that INEC through the Resident Electoral Commissioner had earlier postponed the distribution of the PVC on account of logistics problems till 28th November through 30th of same month. This statement credited to the Governor have confirmed the rumour going round the State that he (the Governor) has completed arrangements with the help of INEC leadership to deny certain communities the right of collecting their PVC, perceived to be in opposition to his Party. We call on the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega to beam his searchlight in order to arrest any corruptible activities of the Nasarawa chapter of INEC.
The objective is not only to deny them the vote but to make sure that the ethnic and population pattern of the state is permanently dislocated and altered to achieve long-term political goals.
Presently, the influx of victims into Lafia, Nasarawa Eggon, Akwanga and other urban areas is threatening the general security of the state capital. We understand that the insurgents will soon be attacking other areas like Keffin Wambai, Barkin Abdullahi (BAD), Nasarawa Eggon, Doma and other settlements to drive them away before the 2015 elections.
This wicked and genocidal destruction going on in Nasarawa State is the programme of Governor Al-Makura’s government and should not be blamed on any ethnic differences in the state. This because there are situations where the Governor out rightly said that they should leave him alone to deal with this Eggon people.
We are aware that in many places, the Eggon, Fulani and Alago are still living peacefully together and inquiries from the Fulani show that most of the attackers are not Nigerians.
It is very shameful and disturbing that a government elected by the people has brought in mercenaries to kill its own citizens in order to maintain its hold on power.
We urge the Federal Government to therefore act quickly to stop the gradual spread of terrorism in Nasarawa State, which will affect the security of the states in the entire North Central and the Federal Capital Territory in due course.
There is no doubt that those who are carrying out the widespread destruction are professional terrorists brought into Nasarawa State. The security agencies must arrest sponsors of these attacks and must deploy troops to destroy the terrorists’ camps located in parts of the state.
We call on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to speed up the distribution of relief materials to tens of thousands of displaced persons in Lafia, Nassarawa Eggon, Akwanga, Agyaragu, Obi and other settlements, which are presently overwhelmed by the influx of refugees from the communities and towns that have so far been destroyed by the imported mercenaries and terrorists.
Governor Al-Makura should take personal responsibility over what is going on in our state and must remember that throughout history, those who embarked on ethnic cleansing have never succeeded in stopping the march of history.
He may be using his immunity under the constitution to destroy lives today, but those who shed human blood for political objective will ultimately account to God and posterity.
JUDICIAL ROBBERY
We also wish to condemn in strong terms, last week’s judicial robbery of the chairmanship seats of Keffi and Keana Local Government Councils (LGCs) which had been won by our party, the PDP. In kangaroo Judgments that amounted to judicial robbery, Justice Aisha Ahmed of the State High Court set aside all legal norms and evidence and handed over the two PDP chairman seats of Keana and Keffi to the APC.
In clearly teleguided judgments inspired by the Al-Makura administration, the State High Court on strange grounds seized the two seats from PDP and handed them over to APC.
Reports available show that the High Court is warming up to seize the remaining two chairmanship positions of Nassarawa Eggon and Kokona in order to hand them over to Governor Al-Makura’s party, the APC!
The abuse of judicial powers by the High Court as witnessed in the sham judgments again underlines the dangers our democracy faces at the grassroots.
In the last local council election conducted by the APC government of Al-Makura, PDP defeated the APC in 11 out of the 13 Local Government Areas. PDP defeated APC in Lafia, Obi, Keana, Doma, Nassarawa Eggon, Akwanga, Kokona, Keffi, Karu, Nasarawa and Toto Local Government Areas of the state.
The State Electoral Commission decided to give the PDP Certificates of Return in 6 local governments of Obi, Keana, Nassarawa Eggon, Akwanga, Kokona, and Keffi. The results of the remaining 5 local governments were re-written in favour of APC even as electoral officials abandoned the ballot boxes in the various local governments for fear of attacks by angry voters.
On the day of swearing in, the State Electoral Commission, noting that PDP still had nearly half of declared chairmanship seats, refused to swear in elected chairmen of Akwanga and Obi Local Governments who had been duly issued with Certificates of Return by the Commission.
Instead, they seized that of Obi and Akwanga and handed them over to APC on the order of Governor Al-Makura who threatened to sack them from their jobs.
It is a shame that having been defeated overwhelming at the polls, the APC government has used its High Court to rob the two PDP seats of Keffi and Keana!
We reject these Kangaroo judgments by Justice Aisha Ahmed who has now assumed the inglorious reputation of a hired Judicial Assassin in the hands of Governor Al-Makura’s widely unpopular APC regime! We will petition the judgments to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to look into the clear and unacceptable abuses that characterized them.
The APC continues to shout about free and fair elections in 2015 while its Governments in Nasarawa, have continued to conduct the worst elections in the State and have also continued to use State apparatus to intimidate her opponents. Where is fairness in political corridor of APC in Nasarawa.
All these havoc committed by Tanko Al-Makura are more grievous than what happen in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno where the State of Emergency was declared. Therefore, calling for the declaration of the State of Emergency in Nasarawa State will not be out of place.
We therefore call on the citizens of the State to be calm and go about their businesses as there is no amount of intimidation from the part of government, be it executive or judiciary that will stop the PDP from clinching the power in 2015. I therefore call on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, look into security decay of the State so as to proffer lasting solution to it.
Thank you and may God Bless.
