Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has expressed shock and sadness over the killing of over 150 persons in the Barkin Ladi, Mangu and Bokkos Local Government Areas of Plateau State by gunmen on Christmas eve.
This was contained in a press statement released in Enugu by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia.
In the statement, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, described the attack as awful.
The Igbo Leader qualified the killing of over 150 persons, burning of houses, indiscriminate shootings and displacing of residents as an orchestrated act of genocide.
He wondered why Nigeria in this modern age and civilization, is still posting the brutish, cruel and barbaric news of mass killings of such magnitude.
He lamented that the Federal Government had refused to heed the call by Ohanaeze Ndigbo for Restructuring and State Policing System as panacea for the incessant loss of lives and property in the various states of the country.”
Iwuanyanwu added that: “it has become very obvious that the federal security architecture has proved very ineffective for our diverse demography.”
The Ohanaeze president reiterated that such “heinous and cowardly” killings have persisted because in the past the perpetrators of such savage acts often go unpunished.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to do everything possible to bring to book those behind the callous crime in Plateau State.
The Igbo Leader directed the Igbo leadership in Plateau State to extend all forms of solidarity with the immediate families of the deceased, the displaced and the sundry victims of this catastrophe.
“On behalf of all the sons and daughters of Igbo, I send our condolences to the governor of Plateau State, His Excellency, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang; the good people of Plateau State and the Middle Belt Forum led by Dr. Bitrus Pogu,” Iwuanyanwu stated.
He prayed the Almighty to grant the souls of the deceased a blissful repose in His bosom.
