Following incessant attacks leading to mass killings and annexation of communities in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, youths in the affected communities have tasked the military and the police to chase out the terrorists or they will be forced to take laws into their hands.
The warning, which came from the Bokkos Concerned Youth (BCY) during a press conference in Jos on Thursday, said the current situation in the council where over 60 villages have been sacked by Fulani militias call for immediate action from security agencies.
In a statement issued at the end of the press parley by the BCY President, Dapet Chris Ortega, the group appealed to the military and police to pursue their attackers as killings and attacks continue unabated.
Ortega expressed the group’s disappointment that despite their restraints in taking up arms to defend their communities, it was disheartening that their people keep suffering from daily attacks and killings which has forced many of them to flee their ancestral lands while their attackers have taken over their lands and homes.
According to Ortega, over 10 communities have been totally sacked and occupied by bandits while over 61 communities have suffered violent attacks, leaving several persons displaced in Bokkos.
He stressed that for over 10 years now, innocent people have been subjected to senseless killings, displacements, and kidnappings of our people by bandits.
He mentioned some of the affected villages that have been taken over by the bandits to include Hokk, Nawula, Pangkap, Luwapan, Fokoldep, Dangru, Bodel, Duun and Dulu, noting that the frequency and severity of the attacks have left the people scared and gripped with anxiety and uncertainty.
“Innocent families, including women and children, have been completely wiped away, leaving thousands of lives lost and properties worth billions destroyed by the activities of these bandits.
“If the military and police cannot protect us and chase these terrorists out of our lands, we will have no option than to take laws into our hands.
“We can no longer sit back and watch our people killed and our communities sacked,” Ortega lamented.
