Plateau massacre: Dogara mourns, says Nigeria must defeat violence

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Yakubu Dogara, joins stakeholders of good goodwill and conscience in Nigeria mourning slaughtered indigenes of rural communities in Plateau State massacred by Fulani herdsmen last Sunday, same day President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) gathered at the Eagle Square, Abuja, surrounded by 5,000 police officers and hundreds of other security operatives for the aprty’s national convention.

Dogara, accordingly, commiserated with the people of Plateau State over the death of about 200 people.

The House of Representatives Speaker remarked that the pogrom was a collective loss and national tragedy for the entire country not only to the affected communities and families.

The Speaker had declared: “People tend to deal with the bereavement on individual basis but this is something that involves collective loss, not only to the people of Plateau State, but across Nigeria as a whole. I know that the wounds will still be fresh and deep, because tragedies of this scale leave scars.

“When events like these happen, the tendency is to ask what the government is doing about it. I had cause to have an interface with the President, in company of the Senate President, and he has assured that the affected communities will be rebuilt. He has even directed NEMA to take census of what has happened and present the implication to him for approval. He also talked about looking at the security architecture to see what can be done in order to ensure that we do not have a repeat of this type of tragedy.”

National Daily gathered that the Speaker cautioned against the grave danger which undermined violence portends for Nigeria. He reiterated his assurance to ensure the House of Representatives works in cooperation with the Executive to combat insecurity, while using legislative tools such as appropriation, to ensure adequate funding for security agencies.

“I’ve always repeated the point that we cannot afford to lose the fight against violence and still maintain our democracy and civilization, it’s impossible. Whatever it takes, we have to defeat violence. Because if we do not, we may think now it is affecting only Plateau and some selected states in Nigeria but unfortunately, mayhem like these can lead to chaos on a national scale. It may lead to a scale that may even play out outside the territory known as Nigeria, with international implications. It is therefore our collective responsibility to ensure this doesn’t occur again, and if we’re determined, we’ll be able to stamp it out.

“As a leader in the National Assembly, I want to say from the bottom of my heart because of the teeming people who put us in office, that we are willing and ready to work with the security agencies and the Executive to provide whatever is necessarily needed to end this mayhem across Nigeria, wherever it is in the North or South, and to provide support and funding through appropriation to be able to deal with this challenge that is a serious threat to us all,” Dogara declared.

Dogara, after, condolence session with Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and condolence visit to the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, in the company of some members of the House, proceeded to the Jos University Teaching Hospital to extend his solidarity to the injured victims who escaped the Fulani herdsmen massacre receiving treatment at the hospital.