says impunity fuels reprisal attacks
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) has called for justice for the 22 victims of killings at Rukuba in Plateau State.
According to the association, the entrenched culture of Impunity has been identified as the cause of the endless cycle of attacks and reprisal attacks in Plateau State.
The NAS Capoon, Mr. Abiola Owoaje in a statement titled: “Carnage at Rukuba- Another saga of Impunity” explained that the failure of the government to ensure justice for victims of previous attacks has been the cause of an endless cycle of lethal violence in the state.
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“At the heart of the orgy of attacks and reprisal attacks in Plateau is an entrenched culture of impunity. For so long, killings have gone largely unpunished. Criminal elements with links to power brokers, acting under the motivation of ethnic and religious biases, have continually unleashed death and wanton destruction without any regard for either morality or the laws of the land. The apparent inability of the government to invoke the full wrath of the law on these merchants of violence and agents of death has further emboldened the cycles of lethal retaliatory violence,” Owoaje said.
According to him though Governor Lalong has worked to build peace in the state, the recent killing at Rukuba if not handled with dispassionate dispatch can ignite another round of tension and trigger retributive attacks in the state.
He said the state government and other relevant authorities must take urgent steps to ensure the victims of Rukuba get justice.
The statement read in part: “Governor Lalong must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that those arrested in connection with the murders are brought to justice regardless of their identities or social status. The Police should conduct its investigations and prosecution of those found culpable with diligence, a sense of exigency, and without prejudice. A situation where individuals indicted for heinous crimes such as the Rukuba massacre are allowed to walk free will certainly derail any efforts at achieving lasting peace.
“We urge the security agencies to bolster their operations especially in the area of intelligence gathering. Before the Rukuba bloodbath, intelligence reports had already indicated that there would be heightened security concerns, and a likelihood of reprisal killings in the area. Regretfully, relevant
security authorities failed to act on this vital piece of intelligence.
“We call on the people of Plateau State to embrace peace, unite, and evoke the pleasant memories of a now-distant past when their state was one of the most peaceful places in Nigeria. All the stakeholders, including religious and community leaders, must drop their bellicose attitudes and start to build enduring peace in the state. Peaceful co-existence is the choice the people of Plateau must vote for. Plateau State should not be turned into another theatre of needless war.”
The post Victims of Rukuba killings must get justice- NAS appeared first on Vanguard News.
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