The Peoples Democratic Party has demanded that President Bola Tinubu travel to the locations where gunmen killed Nigerians on Christmas Eve in the Plateau State communities of Bokkos and Barkin Ladi.
According to reports, Kefas Mallai, the Chairman of Community Peace Observers in the Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau State, revealed that the gunmen had slain around 150 people.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Tinubu’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, denounced the assaults and commanded a manhunt for their perpetrators.
“These envoys of death, pain, and sorrow will not escape justice,” Tinubu promised Nigerians while expressing his condolences to the Plateau State administration and people.
Additionally, on Wednesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima visited the scene with National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu. She gave residents the assurance that President Tinubu’s administration would not stop working until the victims of the attacks in the state’s Bokkos Local Government Area received justice.
In response, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP’s national publicity secretary, questioned in a statement released on Friday what went wrong with the intelligence prior to and during the planned killing.
According to the PDP, “What is even more concerning is that Nigerians are also voicing concerns about these fears by citing the remarks ascribed to former military Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha regarding the potential for government officials to be complicit in an uncontrolled insurgency or crisis, as was the case with the Plateau State massacre.”
The opposition party demanded of Tinubu that he visit the impacted villages right away and personally address the country on taking decisive action to find the criminals and their backers in order to alleviate anxieties and concerns on the aforementioned.
Part of the statement said, “As Commander-in-Chief, it is abhorrent and a terrible dereliction of duty for Mr. President to remain silent in the face of the deliberate slaughter of his compatriots without support and defence. By delaying his visit to the difficult areas to show leadership, empathy, and a personal connection with the people, the President even belied his projected role as Consoler-in-Chief.
“President Tinubu should have as a matter of duty personally visited the scene of the genocide to give succour to the families of the dead and the wounded as well as reassure that his government is with the people of the affected communities in particular and Plateau State in general, instead of sending his aides to issue lame statements and detailing surrogates to visit after much prodding.”
