… as Stefanos Foundation visits with food items

By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Jos – Internally displaced persons in the Bokkos local government area of Plateau State have appealed to the federal government to intervene and dislodge strange persons occupying their homes in some of the communities attacked last December.

They appealed on Wednesday when the Stefanos Foundation, an organization looking out for persecuted Christians in Nigeria, visited them to donate assorted relief materials to ease their suffering.

The Foundation with the support from Church in Chains, Ireland provided 500 tubers of yams, 50 cartons of noodles, 10 bags of sweet potatoes, 10 cartons of seasoning cubes, 10 bags of garri, eight bags of rice, six bags of beans, five 25litres of groundnut oil and a similar number for palm oil.

The Programme Coordinator of the Foundation, Mr. Mark Lipdo who addressed the IDPs, lamented that “when armless persons are attacked and killed in their homes by people bearing sophisticated arms, it is no longer funny but an indication that war has been declared on the people.”

He called on the security agencies to “look into what is happening in Plateau State and other parts of the country,” and encouraged the people not to lose hope but believe the perpetrators would be fished out to pay for the crimes.

However, a retired soldier, Yohanna Makwin said, “The Fulani keep chasing us but we remain patient. Government should help us and look into what is happening to us. It appears there is no government in Nigeria, but if there is, they should take action and save us.”

Another survivor from Lunghai-Mangor, Theresa Francis told the delegation from the organization, “I thank you for coming to see us with these items but we have a problem, Fulani came to Lunghai on Christmas Eve, chased us out, and packed our things.

“One of them left their phones in my own house, someone picked up the phone and suggested they should give the security but some of the youths knew whose phone it was. The phone belongs to a Fulani boy in our community, his name is Yahuza.

“Security stopped the youths from confronting the boy and promised to do something about it but since then, we have not seen any action from the security. The Fulani are occupying our houses. The government should please look into this. They are roaming everywhere with their cows.”

She added, “There are soldiers in Lunghai giving them protection but our boys are sleeping in the open without any protection. The Fulani are there on the farms, our people are not able to water the irrigation farms and they have stopped us from harvesting our Irish potatoes.

“We are happy with the food items you brought but we want to go to our homes. Some people went to collect food in a camp here in Bokkos, they had an accident and broke their bones.

“The crowd is too much in the camps, another woman went to collect food, and she fell into the pot of food, it will be better if we are assisted to return to our homes. Last night, our men reported that they sighted the Fulanis dressed in black, entering into Butura-Lunghai, following the routes to the streams.

The security is arresting our youths, keeping vigil with sticks but leaving the Fulanis with guns.”
Rev. Manasseh Mangai from the Church of Christ in Nations, COCIN, Local Church Council, LCC, Tahore added, “We were preparing for Christmas when Fulani attacked my village from all directions and blocked the entrances, shooting.

“It was God that delivered us from their midst, 23 of my members were killed that day, the Chirang community also lost 23 people, and many other communities were overrun. We have soldiers at Manguna and Mile 7 very close to us but they refused to come despite all that was happening.

“By the time they came and saw some of our boys keeping vigil with sticks, they started beating them but the Fulani are walking with guns on their necks, and nobody is asking them any questions.

“Right now, they are still in the villages, if we try to get to the village, we see them there. I appreciate you for bringing these items but take our plea to the government of Nigeria that this discrimination should stop. Fulani are killing the natives, enough is enough.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Bokkos, Rev. Stephen Asugum, who also appreciated the Foundation, stressed, “Your coming goes a long way in assisting, but the people are sleeping outside here; we need assistance for them to return home.”