Protesters troop to Plateau govt house over killings

Hundreds of protesters stormed the Plateau state government house on Wednesday, accusing Simon Lalong, the governor, of failing in his duties.

The protesters, comprising the youth group of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), youth and women groups, condemned the recent attack in the state.

Suspected herdsmen attacked three local government areas of the state on Saturday night. While residents said over 100 lives were lost, the police confirmed 86 casualties.

The three local government areas are currently under curfew but residents say adequate security measure has not been put in place to avert further attack.

Markus Kanda, chairman of the youth group of CAN in the state, said the governor must intensify efforts to resolve the crisis in the state.

“We are all saddened by the challenges we are going through and we came to register our grievances with the authorities,” he said, adding: “People are dying everyday and all we hear are rhetorics and blame games.

“A lot of people have been chased out of their villages. Right now we have at least 50 villages that have been ransacked. We are not happy. This cannot continue.”

The protesters wore black garments and held various placards with inscriptions such as “we don’t want to rest in peace, we want to live in peace”, “enough is enough”, “end herdsmen killings now”.

After the protesters waited for about one hour for the governor to address them, they turned their back on every government official that had come forward to do so.

Samuel Nanle, director of press and public affairs to the governor, told journalists that although “the governor has limitations”, the component of security is “total” and needs joint efforts.

He added: “I think that the approach would have been that we are doing a mass protest that is reflective of our mourning mood as citizens and people of Plateau state.”

Lalong had earlier said his administration is working hard to fish out the perpetrators of the attack and bring them to justice.