A community leader and the Waziri Mushere of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, Yohana, Margif, has expressed dismay over the incessant killing of innocent citizens of the community.

Mr Margif said this on Thursday in Abuja.

He urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene to halt what he described as genocide against the people, which he said was being perpetrated by suspected herdsmen.

Mr Margif also called on the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and other security chiefs in the country, to rein in on the alleged culprits.

He stated, “I would like to draw the attention of the topmost leadership in Nigeria to the deteriorating, dire security situation in Plateau, particularly in Mushere Chiefdom of Bokkos LGA. I urge President Tinubu to take immediate decisive action to halt these endless and senseless killings, protect lives and properties, and secure the future of the Mushere people and other victims of obvious genocide against the people. Herdsmen are killing our innocent people, burning their homes, looting their foodstuff, property, and livestock, and taking over their ancestral lands.”

According to the Abuja-based real estate mogul, the attacks and attendant killings have intensified recently since the outset of this year’s farming season.

Mr Margif further said that the people had been displaced from their villages and ancestral homes and were forced to become internally displaced persons in the country.

He emphasised that the situation required immediate intervention by all stakeholders to prevent further escalation and inflict irredeemable harm by wiping out the entire community from the earth.

“Plateau State has witnessed an unprecedented escalation of violence and loss of lives. This is the current sad reality. Our people are constantly under the threat of the enemy’s bullets and can’t sleep with two eyes closed due to the perpetual unleashing of violence against them by external forces. Something urgent must be done to stem the tide of violence and end this war against the people in order not to harm this administration’s reputation,” Mr Margif said.

In the past couple of days, suspected herdsmen militia killed about 35 people in the localities of Hokk, Pangkap, Fokoldep, Kopmur, Margif, Horop, Mbor, Mushere and Kwahas localities in Mushere Chiefdom.

Chairman of the Bokkos Community Peace Observers, Kefas Mallai, who confirmed the killings, said the victims included a 70-year-old pastor of COCIN LCC Kwakas-Mushere, Mimang Lekyil, who was attacked and killed in the church.

He said that the pastor’s wife was also shot in the leg and was admitted at the Jos University Teaching Hospital for treatment.

“Bokkos has never been this insecure, with the people being butchered as we are currently witnessing,” Lilian Madaki from the Mushere community said.

The commissioner of police in the state, Emmanuel Adesina, confirmed the incident in a statement, saying security forces, including police and military personnel, had been deployed in the affected communities.

(NAN)