4 December 2008
editorial
Lagos — THREE days of election-inspired violence in Jos, Plateau State, left about 400 people dead. No logic can support the death of this number of people. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced and it is certain that those who think they lost this round of fight, would engage in reprisal.
Plateau State has acquired notoriety for these riots and the death toll is often high. The authorities only react. They have done the same thing again.
Politics, religion, unemployment, contests for ethnic supremacy, and political manipulations, are responsible for these riots. Hundreds of unemployed young people are ready to offer their services to politicians who use thugs and other illegal means to contest elections.
In past riots, these factors were identified. Nothing has been done about them. The "shoot-on-sight" orders the Plateau State Governor Jonah David Jang gave to security agencies, and the 24-hour curfew in the worst-affected areas would not have been necessary if the security agencies took measures to prevent the riots.
How could the security agencies have gone to sleep in a city that has seen three major riots in six years?
Of the estimated 12,000 Nigerians who died in riots since 1999, Plateau State accounted for 2,100 people, or 17.5 per cent of deaths from riots. About 1,000 lost their lives in September 2001. While this calmed nerves, it lasted only awhile. Clashes in Yelwa in the southern part of the State, claimed 700 lives in May 2004, resulting in the imposition of a six-month emergency rule in the State.
Ethnic-fuelled tension is common in Plateau State. There are always contentions between indigenes and non-indigenes over access to facilities and opportunities that should be open to residents of the State.
The authorities know all these. They have failed woefully over the years to find solutions that accommodate all sides and give the city the peace it once knew. The security agencies have raised questions, again, about what they really do. Who provided those arms?
How could such mindless killing be planned under their nose? In addition to the Rukuba Barracks, one of the divisions of the Nigerian Army, Jos has the full complement of all the security agencies.
Riots in Jos are warnings about the restiveness of our cities brimming with millions of unemployed youth. They are willing tools in the hands of unscrupulous politicians and religious bigots.
These disturbances continue because governments fail woefully to tackle their roots, which would include punishing some people who have always lived above their law, and encourage others to do so.
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