Emeka Mamah, Bukola Ojeme, Inalegwu Shaibu and Taye Obateru
1 December 2008
THE Federal Government, yesterday, deployed 140 armed troops in the troubled city of Jos, capital of Plateau State, to stem the riots which the state government said had claimed about 200 lives as at yesterday.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police deployed to oversee security in the state, Mr. Richard Chime, also confirmed the casualty rate to newsmen, saying the number could be more.
Chief Medical Director of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Dr. Ishaya Pam, said the hospital was in need of blood to take care of victims and appealed to public spirited individuals to come forward and donate blood.
He said over 100 displaced persons were currently taking refuge within the hospital premises and are being catered for by the hospital with the support of the state government.
Many schools in the state capital hurriedly closed for the term, inviting parents to come and fetch their wards while students of the University of Jos, many of whom were trapped, are finding their way out of the hostels and travelling to their homes.
The 140 armed troops sent to Jos yesterday were airlifted from the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna in a Nigerian Air Force Charlie jet with registration number "NAF 913" at about 7.32 a.m.
Earlier on Saturday, same number of troops were flown out to Jos from the same airport. They were drawn from the First Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna.
Addressing the soldiers at the NAF Base, Kaduna, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Division, Major-General Moses Obi, warned them to avoid acts that could put them in trouble, by refraining from brutalizing civilians while maintaining peace in the city.
Obi also urged them to strive to protect lives and property of the people of the city as they were deployed in Jos to carry out their normal internal security operations.
"You are going for your normal internal security duty. I don't want to hear you brutalize any civilian. You are performing your constitutional duty. You must realise that you must protect lives and property.
"You are going there for the normal internal security operations. Above all, discipline must be your watchword.
I will not want to get complaints about any of you. And I will tell you that as soon as you finish performing your duty there, you will come back home soon.
"While there, you are under the control of the Three Division, so, you take orders from there.
"Listen to your officers and know how you relate with them and I can guarantee you that in a very short time, you'll be back. I wish you the best of luck and remember, discipline should be your watchword," Maj. Gen. Obi said.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Lt. Colonel Mohammed Yerima, has also explained that the troops while in Jos would assist the police to contain the violence.
His words: "As you are all aware of the current situation in Jos, we in the One Division are just supporting with two companies of soldiers, to aid the civil authorities in Jos. People should not panic.
"It is a normal exercise. Most of our troops in Jos have gone on foreign operations. So, we have to complement and support the operations in Jos.
"The situation is under control. The GOC there is in full control. This is just to take care of any unforeseen occurrence. We have to be prepared as we are called in to support the police.
"The police are there but they are not sufficient in number and the government felt the military should come in and assist, which is a normal thing," he said.
Iwu would have done better in Jos
Meanwhile, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, condemned the violence in Plateau, sparked by the State Local Government elections, with a call on the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) to emulate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Professor Maurice Iwu.
Vice President Jonathan spoke in Okigwe, Imo State at the Thanksgiving and National Reception for Iwu, who also revealed the trials and pressures he had to contend with to overcome forces against the successful conduct of the 2007 polls.
Speaking against the backdrop of the Jos mayhem, the Vice President rated the ability of SIECs to conduct hitch-free elections low, insisting that the INEC under the leadership of Iwu, would have conducted better elections at the local government level.
According to him, "Nigerians must appreciate the type of Maurice Iwu, the National and State Commissioners, and other staff of INEC for what they have done. They would say, well, I am a PDP Vice President, I must commend INEC.
"Let people go and examine elections that are being conducted by the various state electoral bodies, the states that are controlled by PDP, ANPP, and other parties, most of them have conducted elections, if you now compare the elections and that conducted by INEC, I believe you will still put INEC over any other electoral commission," he added.
Also, President of the Senate, Chief David Mark; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Dimeji Bankole, yesterday jointly condemned the riots in Jos, in which over 200 people have been confirmed killed.
Senator Mark and Bankole who both spoke at the adult harvest thanksgiving service of St Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja described the Jos riots as the handiwork of fanatics who themselves do not belong to any religious faith.
Mark specifically called for the prosecution of the people that are behind the riot.
He said: "People just go under cover of religion to commit crime. Truly, what is going on in Jos has nothing to do with religion.
"I totally condemn religious fanatics. I am not aware of any faith that advocates violence. Every faith that I know of condemns killing. So, when you go out of our way and kill in the name of religion, you should be punished," he said.
Speaking on the presence of Bankole in the church, Mark said it portrayed harmony and respect for religion as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
"The fact that the Speaker who is a Muslim is in church is a clear indication of the fact that the National Assembly believes in what the constitution says, freedom of religion. People must be allowed to worship the way they want," he added.
Bankole while commenting earlier on the need for religious tolerance in the country said acrimony between religions must be put to end for Nigeria to move forward.
"Acrimony between religions has been a constant feature in our national life for a long time. We need to put an end to it for us to move forward and develop our dear country," he said.
Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon; and elder statesman, Chief Solomon Lar, called for calm and an end to the spate of killings in the state capital.
In separate reactions to the crisis, Gowon and Lar described the mayhem as unfortunate.
General Gowon in an interview with newsmen wondered why what was supposed to be a purely political matter had assumed a religious dimension and urged Nigerians to practise the tenets of their religions.
"Why are the churches being destroyed? What have they got to do with elections? What has election results got to do with the way churches were being burnt? I also heard that some mosques were being burnt and I ask, has it turned into a religious misunderstanding or fight?
"It's unfortunate and I appeal to all Nigerians to show absolute restraint, love and respect for each other. Do not allow politics to destroy your religion. Let the good of your religion be the one that will influence your politics for good," he said.
In his reaction, Chief Lar described the violence as sad and a big challenge to all, urging everyone to cooperate with security agencies to restore normalcy.
He sympathised with victims, promising that "we shall get to the root of it for a lasting solution."
Read comments. Write your own.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Sorry wont do it. In India where less than 200 people died as a result of terrorist attacks, the Interior Minister resigned for not foreseeing the attack and not doing much to arrest the situation sooner. In Nigeria where more than 400 lives are already confirmed dead within an hour of rioting, nobody is taking responsibility and/or held accountable for such loss of innocent lives, just like nobody cared when gas pipelines exploded killing the poor saps scooping the gasoline. Given that religion was used to protest against this Jos election result, it is an open secret that the Politicians… [Read Full Text]