A socio-cultural organisation in Nigeria, Yoruba Welfare Group, has called on the Federal Government and the Inspector General of Police IGP Usman Baba, to ensure that all those involved in the killings of innocent Yorubas in Plateau State are brought to book.
It also condemned the barbaric killings of innocent Yoruba Muslims.
Twenty two unarmed Muslim travellers were brutally killed by a Christian militia group at Rukaba, Jos, Plateau State, on Saturday 14th August, 2021. The attack began around 9.28 am.
The victims had attended the annual dhikr prayer in Bauchi State and were returning in convoy of five vehicles to Ikare, Ondo State, when they were waylaid by the notorious Irigwe militia group.
“The unarmed Muslims were forced to disembark and were then killed one after the other with their vehicles burnt.
“Twenty-two of them were murdered in cold blood, while 14 were seriously injured, even after they had properly identified themselves as Yoruba travellers from Southwest who were returning from a religious trip.
It was reported that the arrival of the police and soldiers on the scene saved the rest.
In a statement by its Media Adviser, Mr Yinka Salaam, YWG expressed shock over the killings as the victims were merely passing through the Middle Belt of Nigeria to their destination.
The statement quoted YWG President, Comrade Adegoke Alawuje as saying, ‘We are saddened by the incident. Nigeria’s history has never recorded Yoruba sons and daughters involved in such religious crisis. We are stunned that, despite identifying themselves as Yorubas with explanations, Irigwe youths still went ahead to murder them in cold blood”.
Alawuje recalled that another illustrious Yoruba son from Ilorin, Kwara State, General Idris Alkali was also murdered in similar circumstance alongside other innocent Muslim travellers in cold blood with their vehicles thrown into ponds.
Major Gen Alkali was murdered in Dura-Du district, an outskirt of Jos South Local Government Area in the most gruesome manner, by armed protesting youths who were demonstrating over the killing of 11 people in Lafande Community, by gunmen.
According to military intelligence report of Alkali’s final moments, “… his car was stopped and he introduced himself as a General to the hoodlums who had barricaded the road he was passing through to Bauchi from Abuja; but he was assaulted and killed.”
“Thereafter, his belongings such as clothings, cash, phones and laptop were shared by those who killed him. His body was dragged before being moved to somewhere else and his car was driven and pushed into the abandoned mining pit filled with water.”
Alkali’s body was later found in an abandoned well.
YWG President warned that the organisation will not relent until the killers are brought to justice.
He described as unfortunate, a situation where other tribesmen are marked for mass murder in retaliation for the killings between two neighbouring tribes, all because of their faith.
“The entire report looks like a dream to us. A typical Yoruba won’t even attack innocent individuals, even if they belong to the tribe of his attackers, how much more the innocent citizens from another tribe. If the Irigwe militia did what they did to Yorubas travellers who were only passing by, one can only imagine what they would have done to non-indigenes in their neighbourhood who belong to the warring tribe.
“Yoruba land has being a role model for other ethnic groups in Nigeria when it comes to religious harmony. That is why we are responding late because we decided to carry out our independent investigation to get to the root of the matter, unlike some politicians who hurriedly issued press releases to score cheap political gains and shield the perpetrators from justice. We refused to accept the lame excuse the the killng was as a result of mistaken identity.
“Our investigation so far revealed that the killers of the innocent travellers simply murdered them because they shared the same religious belief with Fulanis, with whom they have been engaged in ethnic clashes.
“Yoruba land is the only place in Nigeria where discrimination between Muslims and Christians is minimal. We are hereby demanding justice without delay. YWG leader noted that Yorubas are not known as a people who take law into our hands, stressing that justice be done and the families of those killed unjustly be adequately compensated.