President Bola Tinubu has finally condemned the deadly Christmas eve attacks in Plateau state, which killed over 115 people, taking nearly two days to speak on the worst single bloodletting his administration has seen yet.
The president “strongly condemns the heinous and brutal attacks” in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi local government areas of Plateau state, his spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon, his first public comment on the late Sunday carnage that has shocked the nation.
“President Bola Tinubu strongly condemns the heinous and brutal attacks in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State, which resulted in the tragic loss of many lives,” a statement by Ajuri Ngelale posted on X, formerly Twitter, said.
Armed assailants killed at least 115 people during attacks that took place simultaneously between 6pm and 10pm in more than a dozen communities.
“Just as we had finished preparations for Christmas, unprovoked attacks were unleashed on our communities,” Gov. Caleb Muftwang told Channels TV on Tuesday.
“As I am talking to you, in Mangu Local Government alone, we buried 15 people. As at this morning in Bokkos, we are counting over 100 corpses. Not to talk of Barkin Ladi.”
The toll marked a sharp rise from the initial figure reported on Sunday evening of just 16 dead. Plateau state has been plagued for years by ethnoreligious tensions between indigenous farming communities and nomadic Fulani pastoralists.
Amnesty International, which initially reported over 70 deaths in 20 communities, said the death toll had risen to 140, making this the worst attack in the region since 2018. The police said over 96 died.
Birthday wishes
Amid the national horror, the presidency stayed quiet throughout Monday, Christmas Day, and also did not speak quickly on the incident on Tuesday.
During the time since the attacks, the presidency issued multiple birthday greetings as citizens expressed revulsion at the attacks and sought to have a sense of how the government was responding.
The president, through his spokesperson, sent birthday greetings to the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, and Bimbo Ashiru, chairman of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, a conglomerate owned by the governments of South-west states.
He also felicitated with Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, daughter of former military head of state, Murtala Muhammad, who turned 60.
On Tuesday, as new details showed that the death toll in Plateau had sharply risen above 100, with some reporting as many as 180 people were killed, many of them children and women, the president again sent a 70th birthday wish to George Akume, secretary to the federal government.
The messages drew criticisms online. “So it’s better to be celebrating worthless birthdays than doing your work in Plateau state,” a user on X, Agu Nnaya, wrote under the post.
Another user, Pastor Okezie J. Atañi, who usually supports the government, tweeted: “This is highly insensitive from the PRESIDENCY.”
Apprehend the culprits
The president finally commented on the killings at about 2.46pm, some 27 minutes after the Akume post.
In the statement, the presidency said Mr Tinubu has directed “security agencies to immediately move in, scour every stretch of the zone, and apprehend the culprits.”
“The President also directs immediate mobilization of relief resources for surviving victims of the primitive and cruel attacks as well as medical treatment for the wounded. While condoling with the government and the people of Plateau State, President Tinubu assures Nigerians that these envoys of death, pain, and sorrow will not escape justice,” the statement said.
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