By Taye Obateru
As America rekindles the spirit of Americanism and the resurrection of a spirit that was almost killed 10 years ago today, Nigeria’s version of such which is the Jos crisis rekindles nothing but nightmare.

Last Wednesday marked a decade of the festering ethno-religious crisis in the once-peaceful Plateau State. On that fateful September 7, 2001, crisis, which sociologists, political scientists and other egg-heads agree are unavoidable within society but without necessarily resulting in violence if well handled, assumed the dimension of a ‘war’.

The indigene-settler problem in Jos North Local Government Area where the Muslim/ Hausa/Fulani population has been demanding to be given “indigene” status and which has been a source of tension and past skirmishes, boiled over and assumed an ethno-religious dimension resulting in blood-letting and destruction of property never witnessed in the state since perhaps the pogrom against the Igbo at the start of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967. Since then, Plateau State has not known peace and the cost in human, material and other losses continue to escalate.

What would have been a fitting celebration of the ‘anniversary’ in terms of counting the gains made in the area of reconciliation and reintegration and maybe popping drinks to herald how far the people have moved away from the dark alley turned out to be another period of mourning.

Rather than counting the bags of rice, cartons of drinks and the number of chickens that have gone into celebrating the cementing of relationships and the development it has brought, what is being counted are corpses, looted or burnt property, lost limbs or arms and other negatives.

The attacks on villages allegedly by the Fulani believed to be on a revenge mission arising from their losses in previous violence which had stopped for a while resumed  three weeks to the anniversary. Villages around the state capital were raided in commando-like operations by heavily-armed people, leaving many dead and injured. The serial nature of the latest attacks which seem targeted at wiping out families is generating a lot of concern among the people.

From Loton and Kwi in Riyom Local Government Area to Heipang and Tatu in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area to Dabwak in Jos South and Zallaki-Babale in Jos North, it was the same story. The assailants strike, shooting, hacking down their victims while deep asleep, leaving, as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti sang sorrow, tears and blood as their trademark.

The state capital was equally thrown into fresh turmoil on Monday, August 29, when the Izala Muslim Sect which marked their own Eid-el-Fitri a day earlier than other Muslims decided to resume the use of an abandoned prayer ground in a Christian- dominated area turned violent.

It again resulted in colossal loss in human and material terms. The deep-seated animosities created by the cycle of violence were re-opened leaving many to wonder if the situation would ever get better. What with the seeming helplessness of government and security agencies to tackle the situation.

After several inquiries into the crisis by the state and federal governments, both do not seem to have been able to find a way out of the problem. The reports of the enquiries are more famous for not seeing the light of day despite promises to implement them. Similarly, the security agencies do not seem to have answers to how to end the crisis in Jos.

The much- expected “magic” from the deployment of soldiers in place of policemen has proved unrealistic as the Special Task Force (STF) put in place by the Federal Government to tackle the situation has not succeeded in their ‘task’. Worse is the growing accusation that soldiers have become engrossed in the crisis by taking sides. Stories of how soldiers watch unconcerned when people are killed, maimed or property looted abound.

In almost all the attacks on villages are allegations of the involvement of soldiers, a situation which has done much damage to their credibility. Despite denials by STF’ spokesman, Captain Charles Ekeocha, that soldiers as professionals deployed to protect the people and restore peace could not be involved in such activities, the accusations have refused to go. Hence 10 years on, peace has eluded Plateau State which was once acclaimed as a home of peace and tourism.

The grimness of the situation was captured in positive SMS messages sent around by some concerned people on the 10th anniversary. One of the messages read: “Fellow Nigerians and residents of Jos. This September 7 marks 10 years of the Jos crisis. Ten years of innocent people dying; 10 years of loss of property; 10 years of living in fear! How much more! Spread the word. Let our lives go back to normal; let our homes be safe; let our children go back to school; our traders go back to their shops; our husbands and wives go back to their work. Let good prevail over evil. Enough is enough!”

A concerned citizen and activist, Mallam Sadiq Sumbellep, added a unique dimension to the appeal for the return of peace by embarking on a hunger strike on September 7, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the crisis. He told Sunday Vanguard that he was pained that rather than improve, the situation was worsening.

“The crisis started exactly 10 years ago. At that time, people were using stones and sticks to fight, but now we have graduated into using sophisticated weapons and bombs to kill ourselves. The crisis has continued because government has not taken any action to address the underlining causes. All the reports of the commissions set up to look into the crisis remain unimplemented. The youths from both sides are made to destroy themselves.

“So, I’m embarking on this one day hunger strike to show my displeasure over the inability of our leaders to bring the crisis in Jos to an end after 10 years. I am calling on our leaders to be more serious about this problem. If we create employment opportunities for our youths, this crisis will reduce. Many of them lack what to do and that is why they are easy tools for violence. Where would will be in the next 10 years if we cannot solve this problem”, he said.

Member representing, Jos East/Jos South Constituency in the House of Representatives, Bitrus Kaze, has also joined in condemning the fresh outbreak of violence. He said in a statement that the return of violence was a cause for concern, especially the alleged connivance of members of STF in the wave of attacks on villages.

Said Kaze: “I join many peace_loving citizens in condemning the return of terrorism on the Plateau by faceless but known killers. I deeply sympathize with relations of the families that were wiped out and several others who sustained serious injuries. As always, the recurrent eye witness accounts in virtually all scenes of these heinous crimes is the nagging allegation of complicity by operatives of the STF operatives.

“It is the height of irresponsibility for the STF to attempt to excuse their failure to protect tax payers whose blood and taxes they are milking. Nothing smacks of complicity than that STF chose to withdraw at a time when serious complains against them have triggered an investigation by the Army headquarters Abuja, the outcome of which is still being awaited. The unilateral withdrawal of STF from villages where our people have sufficiently traced their insignia to the scene of crime severely injures what remains of their integrity.

“If the STF cannot account for the ethnic cleansing in Heipang, what explanation do they have for the simultaneous killings in Kuru, Babale and Foron where innocent women and children under their watch were mercilessly hacked down? The dereliction of duty by STF has made a mockery of the millions of Naira they sap from Plateau State coffers, protection of lives and properties is the duty of security agencies anywhere in the world, it is not a favour.

While the exposure of their complicity may explain the anger of STF, the large amounts of sophisticated weapons moved into the house of one Fulani man alone in Mahangar village as beamed on NTA network news indicts them enough. The upsurge in calls for the withdrawal of the Military by key stakeholders on the Plateau cannot be baseless.”

“I cannot agree less with the State government for encouraging communities to evolve a means of protecting their lives and properties. The United Nations charter for human rights recognizes the right to self defense, every household must fashion a means of self defense in the face of unwarranted killings. No matter the numerical strength of security forces they will never be available enough for posting to individual parlours, bedrooms, kitchens and backyards.

“Each man must become the Commander In Chief, the Director of State Security Services, the General Officer Commanding and the Inspector General and the Task Force Commander of his family. We must never kill but equally we must never allow anyone continue to kill us like a chicken. On this 10th anniversary of the Sept 7th 2001 crisis in Jos, President Goodluck Jonathan must live up to his campaign promises by providing adequate security to lives and properties on the Plateau.”

While the concerns, accusations, condemnations or even lamentations continue, victims of the violence continue to suffer in silence with nobody seeming to have an answer to the problem. But many agree that governments at various levels must go beyond thinking that the problem would solve itself and device strategies that would bring to an end the barbarism that has enveloped Jos in the past 10 years.

Many are like Sumbellep wondering what the state would be like in the next 10 years if nothing is done to tackle the monster of violence.