Former governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, has decried the renewed spate of killings in the state and many parts of the country, tasking security agencies to stand up and live up to expectation.
Speaking with journalists in Jos Monday, Jang queried “Doesn’t that sound funny that Jonah Jang, a Berom man from Plateau State, is organizing herdsmen to come and kill Beroms or which killings are they talking about?
”Over 200 people have been killed in some local government areas here, including Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Bassa, Bokkos, Mangu and somebody is protesting in Abuja that I am behind the killings.”
He expressed shock “So, I am the person who put the arms in the hands of herdsmen to come and kill my people so that I will be the only Berom man to live with my family or what? Does that make sense?
”I have been hearing somebody making noise on the television alluding to many things which I have directed my lawyers to write him and let him explain or else we will go and explain in court.”
The former governor enumerated the numerous attempts to link him to criminal activities, especially the recent killings in his senatorial zone, was a deliberate plan by the federal government to get him out of the way, so he would not participate in any of the 2019 electoral processes.
But reacting to Jang’s allegation, the Federal Government said it was not aware of the plan to incarcerate in
“I am not aware,” Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, told Vanguard Monday.
However, Jang, who represents Plateau North senatorial district, lamented that the sacrifices the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, made to nurture democracy for 16 years were being eroded by the All Progressives Congress, APC, who sought to intimidate opposition party and turn the country into one party state.
“But I just want to say that it is a pity that politics is turning to what it is. I believe that everything is being done to find a reason to incarcerate me so that I will not participate in the ongoing politics.
”I am the senator representing Plateau North, I may be re-contesting the Senate, I may be contesting a higher position, that decision is in the making and the PDP is working very hard to win the election on the Plateau and I am a key figure here on the Plateau.
“There seems to be a very deliberate plan to get me out of the way so that I don’t participate in any of the electoral processes. If this is the way our politics is going to be, then I am sorry to say that the democracy that we worked hard for will be be destroyed.
”PDP nurtured democracy for 16 years, that is why democracy is stabilizing but now, the APC as a party, has come and wants to destroy democracy by trying to make sure that there is no opposition, they want Nigeria to become a one party state.
“The security agencies should do their work, year in year out. When I took over power in Plateau State in 2007, this crisis was on, for eight years, I was struggling with the security to get this crisis resolved.
“Now, it has gone into a wider dimension. We were talking about Plateau, now we are talking about Taraba, Benue and Zamfara, it is going even down to the southern part of the country.
”The security must stand up and live up to expectation because if the security is saying that the matter has gone beyond them, let the President ask the United Nations to come in if Nigeria’s security agencies cannot handle it,” he stated.
