The gruesome killing of over 29 persons in Nkiedonwhro community of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen is despicable. Reports said that the gunmen stormed the village in the early hours of Monday and shot at the people indiscriminately.
One report said that 20 of the victims, who were mostly women and children, were killed in a classroom they ran into for safety, while another account said the victims were killed in a classroom that security operatives evacuated them to. Whichever way it happened, the heinous crime is condemnable. It is unfortunate that the dastardly act was committed barely 48 hours after a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on the area by the state governor, Simon Lalong.
The attack was said to be the third in the local council since Friday when the indefinite curfew was ordered. The National President of Irigwe Development Association and a former member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Sunday Abdu, reportedly confirmed the killings.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the ugly development and tasked the security agents to bring the violence to an end. He urged the military to come up with a plan to ensure that there are no further attacks or reprisals by one group against the other in the area. Other Nigerians and groups have also condemned the unwarranted deadly attack.
We join other well-meaning Nigerians in condemnation of the wanton killings in the Bassa area of Plateau State for no just cause. This particular killing is horrendous. It is one too many. The most worrisome aspect of the massacre is that it occurred while a dusk-to-dawn curfew was in place. We decry the scant regard for human life and the killing of people with impunity in that part of the country.
Whether the act was perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen or militants, it is abominable. We call on the Federal Government to put adequate measures in place to check the excesses of herdsmen to stem the tide of incessant killings in Plateau State and other parts of the country where such matters are rife. The security agents must act on intelligence and nip such murderous attacks that have become a feature of life in Plateau State in the bud.
Plateau State government should work with the security agents to ensure lasting peace in the area. The government should order a thorough investigation of this matter with a view to fishing out those behind the vexatious killings. All those found guilty should be given adequate punishment. Government should also look into past inquiries and implement some of their recommendations that can help to stop the incessant fighting between the herdsmen and farmers.
We have said in earlier editorials that ranching is the best way to stem the bloody clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in the country. Let plans be put in place to ensure that cattle farmers build ranches for their cows as is done in other countries. The Federal Government should muster the will to apprehend and try those behind these killings. It bears repeating that the primary duty of government is to protect life and property. Allowing killer herdsmen to get away with willful killings such as this is an abdication of the responsibility of the government to the people.
We cannot continue to pretend that this problem will fizzle out without confronting it headlong. There are enough laws in the land to punish murderers. The perpetrators of these murders must be arrested and prosecuted according to our extant laws. All those found culpable must be given condign punishment to deter others from toeing that ugly path. The Police should rise to the challenge and arrest those behind the Plateau State bloodbath and others in the country.