Security Expert Warns against Inciting Statements over Plateau Attack

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

A security expert, Ambassador Abayomi Nurain Mumuni, has cautioned religious and ethnic leaders against inciting statements in respect of the recent attacks in Plateau State on Christmas eve which led to the killing of over 200 people.

Mumuni who is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, in a statement by his Media aide, Rasheed Abubakar, said this was necessary in order to avoid more needless crisis in the state and other states across the country.

He cautioned religious and ethnic demagogues to eschew statements that were capable of inciting the people and pitching them against one another, condemning the attacks which he described as cruel and disheartening.

According to him, “The roles that some religious and ethnic leaders play in this crisis are also condemnable. My investigations into the Plateau State crisis show that some religious scholars preach hate to their followers. That is so ungodly, and they should stop. The government must also rise to monitor and manage the kind of sermons pushed out by the religious leaders.

“It is hate sermons that incite people to reprisal attack which has been identified as a major highlight in the Plateau crisis. We must at all times preach tolerance and understanding. I believe the establishment of state police will do more to reveal and investigate the local issues surrounding the constant attacks in Plateau.”

The author of ‘Global Terrorism and its Effects on Humanity’, however said the Christmas eve attack in Plateau State was a wake-up call to the Federal Government and National Assembly to immediately revisit the age-long call for state police amidst rising insecurity.

Mumuni who served in the Security/Intelligence Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 general election, maintained that state police will give latitude to governors who are Chief Security Officers of their states to address security matters with the urgency that is required without selfish interests and primordial sentiments.

He added that there should be mechanism in place to ensure that the police structure was not totally in the control of the state government.

“The crisis in Plateau State is not new, and it has multiple dimensions. There is a long, deep-seated ethnic/religious rivalry in that state. There is also the herders-farmers dimension to killings reported in the state. The crisis has turned out to be what the people are accustomed to. There is therefore a need for local intelligence and approach to tackle the crisis.

“In view of this, I want to urge the Federal Government ably led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly to revisit the calls for state police in Nigeria. Apart from engendering true federalism in the country, which the President has consistently identified with, the establishment of state police has the tendency to tackle most of our security challenges in Nigeria. This is because these security challenges are rooted in local matters such as a distrust between two ethnic or religious or even economic groups.”