Worried by the renewed crisis in Jos, the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN) on Sunday urged the security agencies to be more alert in the discharge of their duties.
The MMPN made the appeal in a communiqué issued in Abuja after its monthly meeting calling on media houses to be objective and fair in their reportage of events in the country.
“As an umpire, the media has a duty to be fair, just and balance in its reportage of events, not only in respect of the Jos crisis, but other issues in line with the ethics of the journalism profession,” it said.
The communiqué, which was jointly signed by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, chairman, and Abass Jimoh, secretary of the association, also advised media practitioners to always cross-check their facts before publishing.
“In as much as the whole world knows that the crisis in Jos is not religious, it will not be in the interest of Nigerians to link the crisis to religion,” it said, adding that those arrested in connection with the crisis should be speedily prosecuted.
Crime and punishment
It also condemned the killings of innocent citizens, especially children and women in during the early morning attack, describing it as a crime against humanity which should not go unpunished.
“No religion preaches violence and killing of people without any judicial pronouncement,” it stated.
It however advised Muslims and Christians in Plateau state and other parts of the country to continue to live in peace and harmony as dictated by the two religions in their Holy books and also appealed to both indigenes and non-indigenes of the state to learn to accommodate and tolerate one another in the interest of the peace and security of the country.
The crisis, which started on 7 March, claimed the lives of almost 500 residents and was reported to have been carried out in a night raid on Dogon Nahowa village, Jos South local government area less than two months after hundreds of people lost their lives in two days of ethno-religious crises which raged the town in January.
The attacked villagers also claimed that their attackers were Fulani herdsmen.
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