…Urges citizens to defend themselves and communities
BY CHAMBERLAIN ODEY, JOS – The Plateau State House of Assembly on Friday issued Governor Simon Bako Lalong a two-week ultimatum to implement its recommendations on the subsisting killings in different parts of the State or it would be compelled to consider the next line of action against him.
This was as the House urged the people of the state to stand up and defend themselves and their communities, stressing that conventional security design is no longer guaranteeing their safety as a people.
Speaking at press conference, the House Committee on Information chaired by Hon. Dasun Philip Peter, said that as an Assembly with the people at heart, it wants the citizens of Plateau State to have confidence in the legislature with renewed commitment.
The House said it has given Governor Lalong two weeks to take action on its resolutions as forwarded to him on security matters and how to restore peace.
The Plateau legislature noted that as the killings persist and appear to be orchestrated from one village to the other, it challenged Governor Lalong to be decisive and bold about the fate and preservation of the Plateau heritage.
The House further said; “We call on the Executive Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, to come up with a statement defending us as a people and to bring back renewed commitment to the cause of Plateau.
“We are still expecting with high hopes, the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to also come up with a statement about the killings in Yelwa Zangam just as he did in the killing of travelers along Rukuba Road, and to also indicate a sign of justice or we will see him as being reflexive about the killings in Plateau”, House said.
The House specifically decried the silence of the Presidency since the massacre of 36 souls in Yelwa Zangam, Jos North, on Tuesday night.
The House also called on the traditional rulers to “look inward and release the local security design to protect Plateau people as well as reinforcing the vigilante”.
It directed all Local Government Councils chairmen to “suspend their planned recruitment of ad-hoc staff, and instead recruit 200 vigilante personnel in each of the Local Government Areas to boost security and local intelligence gathering.
With a call to the agents of state security to trail and arrest and punish perpetrators of the killings so far, the state legislature commended the conduct and resilience of the youths in “sustained, coordinated and organized campaigns against the killings,” including the display of the corpses in the House of Assembly.
The administration of Governor Simon Bako Lalong has been at the lowest rating in the opinion polls since last Wednesday following persistent killings and failure of the Governor to return to the State to take control and commiserate with the grieving population.
Many have dismissed him as “incompetent”, a “betrayal”, and are calling for his summary impeachment for being indifferent to the plight of the people.
