Four persons have been killed in a fresh attack in Plateau State. The victims, who are all male, were killed by suspected herdsmen on Monday at Renwienku village of Miango District in Bassa Local Government Area of the North-Central State. President of Irigwe Development Association Mr Robert Ashi Dodo said the assailants invaded the village in the early hours of the day and inflicted injuries on the victims – who were mainly middle-aged – which led to their death The incident, according to the Irigwe leader, was compounded when the mourners were attacked on their way to bury the dead. He, however, said they buried the victims following the intervention of security agencies. But the Fulani community has denied any involvement in the incident, and accused their Irigwe neighbours of killing a herder – who was pasturing – during the weekend. The Miyetti Allah leader in the state, Nura Mohammad described the incident as unfortunate in spite of the ongoing peace efforts in the state. The police in a statement from the command Public Relations Officer Gabriel Ubah confirmed the unfortunate incidents at Kpachudu and Reweinku villages in Miango district that led to the death of four persons. He said more personnel have been deployed to the areas to restore peace. According to him, investigations have commenced to fish out perpetrators of the dastardly act. READ ALSO: Politics Hinders Security Agencies From Doing Their Jobs, Says Ex-DSS Director Plateau Crisis: Sanwo-Olu Evacuates Three-Week Old Baby, Lagos Students From Jos Plateau is the twelfth-largest state in Nigeria. Plateau is the twelfth-largest state in Nigeria. The recent incidents are the latest in renewed clashes in Plateau State. Last month, there was tension in the state after some travellers were killed, a development which prompted the Plateau government to impose a curfew on the state. But critics say Governor Simon Lalong is not doing enough to tackle insecurity in the state. “When I say enough has not been done, I mean, how many people, how many assailants – whether herdsman or gunmen, whether marauders or miscreants; how many have the state government arrested in the last six years? “How many assailants have the state government prosecuted and even if they have not prosecuted, how many have they made public to say that we arrested A, B, C, D in X, Y, Z places; how many?” a former member of the House of Representatives, Bitrus Kaze said. In the wake of the conflict, various states started evacuating their indigenes from the University of Jos (UNIJOS) over fears the situation could worsen.

Disturbed by the crisis in parts of the North, renowned Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, has alleged that Military actions in the past have worsen the situation stimulating herdsmen resistance. He insisted that the conflict can be resolved by active engagement of the government with the agitators. Gumi,in a statement on Monday titled ‘Zamfara:The Flaring of Crisis’,proffered solutions to the raging crisis, especially in the Northwest region, and maintained that military action could not be the best solution. According to him,”Zamfara state is unique in many aspects. In early 2000, the state ignited a wildfire of states constitutional amendments that accommodated the application of sharia law beyond personal law (i.e. marriages, divorce, and inheritance) to include the Islamic criminal law. It was well received by the local populace with eleven other northern states adopting it. “However, it goes without saying, that the international community ruled by leaders that are promoting sodomy and lesbianism in the garment of secularism were at the forefront of fighting it. In a short time, it became political and fizzled away.” “If such shariah implementation move had concentrated in literacy and economic empowerment the kind of which we see in Saudi Arabia, with its rich resources, Zamfara would have become a shining example of the blend of a religiously modern state proud of its development and modesty. Unfortunately, it turned out to became the den of criminality and instability in the region.” “From the blues, in 2009 cattle rustling became rampant. Most of the cattle rustled were headed to the south in trailers where they are sold and slaughtered. This massive movement of rustled cattle greatly reduced their population. Most of the rustling first affected the rural herdsmen and it became more elaborate in the north-western region.” “Herdsmen were left with only one of three options. To join the rustlers or pay tribute to rustlers for protection or lose their cattle. In 2014, the military ‘intervention’ in the Birnin-Gwari Forest to fight cattle rustling changed the headsmen into a resistance movement as many innocent Fulani Ruga settlements were murdered, men, women, and children in hundreds.” “By 2015, banditry has replaced cattle raring that is becoming nearly impossible. Drugs were introduced into the herdsmen that are known to be illiterates or semi-illiterates. The reaction of the town local vigilantes (a natural reaction to any communal aggression in self-defence) pitched the herdsman against the local rural helmets, villages, and adjacent towns to the forests as they are lynched and maimed when whenever they enter markets. Therefore, everybody became an enemy and a target. Fulanis and other tribes, Muslims and non-Muslims were equally kidnapped for a ransom most of which goes to buying weapons.” “Profiling of Fulani herdsmen became another motivative factor of more resistance and more kidnappings which has now led to their metamorphosis into the monster the nation is facing today.” “We should also know that because of their educational status and lack of an effective unified leadership they have faced untold hardship in the hands of authorities where they were extorted and stereotyped. It has been imprinted in the psyche of nomadic pastoralists that the authorities and their town dwellers are ‘evil people’ that should be resisted because they have no place to secure justice for their cases no matter how innocent they may be.” “With their acquisition of weapons, they realized how easy it became to be masters of their abode the forest, where no authority can venture into. This has emboldened them to further attack people for more ransoms to sustain their newfound reality.” “Now with the prodding of the government to take more military actions of an already ugly situation whereby they were left to amass weapons, a huge military budget that is almost draining the economy to a standstill in the purchase of fighter aircrafts and conducting military operations in the region has become to the authorities in their calculations a necessity.” “Unfortunately, this is no solution or wisdom. When you don’t have the monopoly of the instruments of violence, then dialogue has the monopoly of resolving the conflict. This is what the UN is all about. i.e., Roundtable resolution of conflicts. What we are seeing is more than just criminals and criminality, yes it may have started as such but like any conflict, it is dynamic.” “The danger we face now is ideological demagogues changing the narrative. They are trying hard to infiltrate the herdsmen. And we know their objectives. They want to destroy all modern governments by fighting the military and now in the recent cajoling of local populations, they have tormented before to join them in the struggle.” “Let us face the reality, these herdsmen are going nowhere, and they are already in battle gear, and we know our Military very well, so before things get messy, we need cold brains to handle this delicate situation. It’s commonsense that if you allow your neighbors to be your enemy you are already conquered. Because they can easily be used against you by other forces as we see now the herdsmen are ultimately used to destabilize the region, pauperize and even depopulate it.” “Military actions in the past have worsen the situation stimulating herdsmen resistance. Any more action will push them closer to religious fanaticism. It gives them protection from discrediting them as thieves and also reinforce their mobilization of gullible young unemployed youth as we saw with Boko Haram.” “I have met many of the bandit leaders to see a way out of this gridlock. I have talked to the political class and security agents. Except for an exception, most state governors want a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The Police and other security outfits have also realized the enormity of the problem. But, unfortunately, the presidency for what appears to be political gullibility and the military for budgetary reasons as they are the most beneficiary of conflicts of this nature doesn’t seem to be on the same page.” “This conflict can be resolved by active engagement of