The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in Mangu LGA of Plateau State, Rev Timothy Daluk, said army officials were complicit in the terror attacks on Christians witnessed in the area on 23 and 24 January.
A swarm of Fulani-speaking jihadists have been on rampage in Plateau since mid 2023.
The attacks peaked on 24 December 2023 when several villages in Barkin-Ladi, Mangu and Bokkos LGA were attacked concurrently. Over 200 people were killed and several houses looted and razed to the ground.
The latest wave of violence began on sunset on 23 January in Mangu, Southeast of the capital city of Jos.
Ten Christians have been killed with ten houses and at least, a church set on fire in the violence, police authorities in the Northcentral State said.
Rev. Daluk said the assailants went on a destruction and kiling spree because they had the backing of the Nigerian military.
“Te military are the ones sending our people away for the militia to burn their houses,” he said in a short video shared on social media seen by Pilot News.
“They set the curfew. The curfew is only restricted to only people within Mangu; within the Christian domain. Within the Muslim domain, they are free to move and do whatever they want to do.”
He continued: “People around Gindiri junction and all other places, their houses are now ablaze because the soldiers protected them and allowed them to burn people’s houses. They are not doing anything about it.”
We, in Mangu local government, we don’t want the military in Mangu local government. They should pack their loads and go. We don’t want them. We don’t need them and we don’t want them.”
The CAN leader said he won’t fail to mobilise Christian locals in the area to take up arms and defend themselves since the military are failing to protect them from the armed groups.
“I will organise the whole Christians in Mangu LGA. We are going to fight. We are not going to stop. Enough is enough. We have cried, but the government is not listening,” he said.
In reaction, the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, said they would reach out to the clergyman for him to “substantiate the claims.”
Major General Edward Buba, the DHQ spokesman, said, “DHQ is in the process of reaching out to him to come and substantiate the claims. It is not unusual for emotions to cloud people’s judgment when they have been confronted with a very traumatising experience.”
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