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How would you assess government's handling of the Jos crisis?
Adequate
Inadequate
Indifferent
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua may have stylishly shunned Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang as he refused to grant the governor audience yesterday.
Over 300 people were said to have been killed in the sectarian riots that broke out last Friday in the state over the local government election in Jos North.
According to a Presidency source, Jang arrived the Presidential Villa early in the morning and waited for Yar’Adua to return from the National Assembly where he had gone to present the 2009 budget.
When the President returned, however, and was told Jang had been waiting, rather than see him, Yar’Adua was said to have directed that the governor should see Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, said the source.
Details of the meeting between Jonathan and Jang were not made public and it was not clear for how long the governor was with the vice-president.
Jang was also at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abuja headquarters to brief the party leaders about the crisis.
He denied that he planned to inaugurate Timothy Buba Gyang whose alleged election as Chairman of the local government had sparked the ethno-religious riot in the state.
President Yar’Adua was reported to have stopped Jang move to inaugurate new local government executives in the state.
But speaking with newsmen later yesterday, the governor said: “It would amount to insensitivity on my side to do that. I feel highly worried on what happened and to do anything at this moment is to inflame the crisis.”
Unfazed by the denial, the Action Congress (AC) condemned Jang for the reported move and commended President Yar’Adua for stopping the inauguration of the council executives.
AC, however, said in a statement last night by its National Publicity Secretary Lai Mohammed that the President should go further by ordering the cancellation of the polls as a sign of respect for the innocent souls lost in the crisis.
The party said while many would argue that the order to cancel the results would be unconstitutional, so also could one argue that the President lacked constitutional powers to even stop the inauguration of the elected officials.
“But this unfortunate tragedy has transcended the realms of constitutionality. It is an issue of morality, an issue of right and wrong. The President has used moral suasion to stop the swearing-in of the chairmen and councillors. He should use the same power to push for the cancellation of the massively-rigged local government elections,’’ AC said.
Meanwhile, Imo State Governor Ikedi Ohakim has described the crisis in Jos as political rascality and hooliganism that was not targeted at any ethnic group in particular.
He said the governors of the South-east geopolitical zone were on top of the situation to avoid reprisals.
Fielding questions from State House Correspondents, Ohakim said: “It is just political rascality and hooliganism occasioned by unemployment. It was not targeted at anybody. The situation has normalised. The security forces have taken the council over and I don’t think there is any point to be afraid of anything. It is part of politics. It is the risk in politics.”
Ohakim said South-east governors had taken adequate measures to avoid possible reprisal in other states in the zone.
“That (reprisal) will not happen. This morning, I spoke with my colleague in Plateau State and heads of traditional rulers in South-east and we had a meeting and we are going round to tell the people that look this thing is not targeted at anybody and we are on top of the situation. We have intelligence reports that nothing like reprisal attack is going to happen to anybody. So you can go about your duty as if nothing has happened,” he said.
On his part, Kaduna State Governor Namadi Sambo thanked God that there had not been any spill-over and the crisis had been contained.
“We prayed that this country will continue to have peace and we call on everybody to ensure that we do not allow this development to spill to any other part of the country as we have witnessed today,” he said.
But the governors of the 19 Northern states, in a statement, described the crisis as barbaric.
“It is unfortunate that in the 21st century we are still witnessing such violence in our quest for justice, peace and development,” the governors said in a statement released by their secretariat and made available to the press in Minna the Niger State capital.
The statement signed by the Secretary to the Niger State Government, Dr. Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, said the degree of destruction of lives and property, which took place in Jos was what the Northern part of the country least required because of the region’s determination to attract investments and investors to the area.
Commenting on the crisis, Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala called for caution.
He also called on indigenes of the state to refrain from any reprisal.
The governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Public Communications Dotun Oyelade, appealed against any form of retaliation from indigenes of other states and towns in the crisis.
Alao-Akala’s call might not be unconnected with a report, which detailed accounts of Ogbomoso and Akungba indigenes that were victims of the riots.
Also yesterday, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and National Chairman of the Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP), Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Useni (rtd), dismissed the claims by the Plateau State Government that the crisis had nothing to do with the election.
He said the violence was a reaction to the reckless statements made by the state government officials before the election that they would snatch victory anywhere the opposition parties win and give it to the PDP as it happened in Nasarawa State and nothing would happen.
He said the attempt to manipulate the results of the election led to the breakdown of law and order.
Useni, who spoke with newsmen in his residence in Jos, said the claim that people had earlier been brought from outside the state to foment trouble were lies, stating that the state government officials had openly provoked the opposition parties.
From abroad, the United States Mission to Nigeria and a US-based human rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), yesterday asked the Federal and Plateau State governments to explore interfaith dialogue to address the ethno-electoral violence that erupted Jos.
The mission, in a statement, called for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, but, however, said it “deeply regrets the loss of lives in Plateau State over the weekend.
“We stand with all Nigerians who believe in respect for the diversity of political views, religion, and ethnicity. We support efforts by the Nigerian and Plateau State governments that are addressing the humanitarian needs of the communities in the aftermath of the weekend violence.”
It said the mission would support a process capable of establishing peace in the state.
The group said policies enacted by state governments were marginalising settler communities, going against the constitution's guarantee of freedom from discrimination, and contributing to ethnic resentment.
HRW African Director, Georgette Gagnon, said: “These discriminatory policies relegate millions of Nigerians to the status of second-class citizens and fuel the flames of ethnic and religious violence.”
