GOC blames Taraba crisis on traditional rulers, community leaders
The acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos, Brig Gen. Benjamin Ahanotu, yesterday blamed the crisis on the Mambilla Plateau on traditional rulers and community leaders.
Speaking at the palace of the Chief of Mambilla, Dr Shehu Audu Baju II, General Ahanotu who visited several scenes of the killings on a motorbike, said he was shocked by what he saw.
The GOC likened the crisis on the Plateau to that of Boko Haram terrorists. “Even Boko Haram did not slaughter women and children, but here I saw young children and pregnant women slaughtered. We should know that the victims are fellow Nigerians and indigenes of this area, who should be treated with dignity,” he said.
He noted that traditional rulers and community leaders failed to take proactive measures to prevent the ugly development.
He lamented that throughout the crisis, Mambilla village heads and community leaders did not come to the aid of the wounded, “as they just watched them die helplessly right in front of their houses.
“As elders, they did not also make any effort to convey the injured to hospitals, making the victims to lose confidence in the system and seek medical attention in neighbouring Cameroon Republic.
“As leaders of the people you should be able carry everyone along irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation”.
Ahanotu said soldiers have been deployed to the flash points across the local government and called on the traditional council to support them.
The GOC called on the leaders to embark on reconciliation and confidence building measures to ensure that the victims returned to their homes and resumed their normal businesses.
Earlier, the Chief of Mambilla, Dr Baju expressed appreciation over what he called the prompt intervention of the Army to quell the situation.
Baju, who was represented by the Madaki of Mambilla, Alhaji Isa Musa, commended the GOC for defying the rough terrain to access some of the affected areas.