Plateau Indigenes in South Africa (PISA)

Facebook: PlateauinSA
Pretoria, South Africa
(+27)604161651
(+27)732090294
Email: pinsouthafrica@gmail.com
20th July, 2018

MEMORANDUM OF PROTEST AGAINST GENOCIDE IN PLATEAU STATE OF NIGERIA SUBMITTED BY PLATEAU STATE INDIGENES IN SOUTH AFRICA TO HIGH COMMISSIONER OF NIGERIA, H.E. AHMED M. IBETO, ON 20TH JULY 2018

Sir,

We, the concerned citizens of Nigeria under the platform of Plateau Indigenes in South Africa (PISA), have the honour to convey to the High Commissioner of Nigeria our deepest concern and total condemnation of the massacre of over 200 innocent and defenseless children, women and men by Fulani militias, which took place on 23rd and 24th June 2018 in Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bokkos Local Government Areas of Plateau State of Nigeria. The killings are not only atrocious, cruel and despicable but constitute the worst form of man’s inhumanity to man, ethnic cleansing, genocide and crime against humanity, which must be condemned by all peace-loving people of the world.

2. It is regrettable that the crisis is further worsened by the forceful occupation by the herders of the ancestral habitat and farmlands of the communities displaced as a result of the violent attacks. Today, the survivors of the attacks are scattered in various Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Plateau State under dire sub-human conditions, with little or no succour from the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Plateau State Government. While the survivors are languishing in IDP camps, their lands remain occupied by Fulani herders, under the official watch of both the national and state governments. Our people want to return to their ancestral lands and we demand that the international community and the Nigerian government guarantee our safe return to the land and protect our life and property.

3. While we applaud the outpouring of outrage and condemnations by peace-loving Nigerians and the international community, especially the United Nations Secretary-General, the Government of the United States of America and the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, we wish to call on all leaders and people of conscience from all over the world, including ethnic nationalities residing in Plateau State, to rise up in unison and solidarity with the weak, defenseless and oppressed farmers of Plateau State and other parts of Nigeria, who have become targets of the brutal attacks of Fulani herders.

4. We also laud the rare demonstration of courage, compassion and respect for human life by Mallam Tsoho, the Chief Imam of Nghar, a small village in Plateau State. The godly man, who is a Muslim of Hausa-Fulani extraction, along with other Muslims, hid defenseless Christian farmers in a mosque to protect them from blood-thirsty killer herders. His action is not only exemplary and commendable but underpins the inherent capacity of human beings to do good irrespective of creed.

5. In the light of the above, we, the Plateau Indigenes in South Africa, hereby make the following demands:

call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to stop the killing of farmers by Fulani herders;

call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Plateau State Government to hasten to provide succour in terms of relief materials and medical support to Internally Displaced Persons in various camps in Plateau State;

call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Plateau State Government to reclaim the ancestral land forcefully occupied by the attackers, rebuild the communities destroyed during the recent attack and resettle the IDPs back to their ancestral homes;

call on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Plateau State Government to discharge their primary constitutional duty of protecting life and property of all Nigerians without fear or favour or distinction on the basis of religion or ethnicity; and,

call on the international community to hold to account persons or groups responsible for the mass killing of defenseless children, women and men in Plateau State and other parts of Nigeria.

6. Finally, we, the undersigned, duly authorized by Plateau State Indigenes in South Africa, do submit this Memorandum to the High Commissioner of Nigeria for the attention and consideration of the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) and the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong. Our demonstration today is indeed driven by an unmatched feeling of patriotism and a collective desire for justice for the victims of genocide in Plateau State.

Sincerely,

President, PISA Secretary, PISA

CC:
Plateau State Government
UN Office in Pretoria
United States Embassy, Pretoria

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Plateau Killings: Plateau Indigenes in South Africa Writes Memorandum of Protest Against Genocide