WE reproduce here an earlier interview, published on May 15, 2012, with the late Senator Gyang Dantong (PDP, Plateau North). While faulting the state of emergency in some local councils in Plateau State, he had harped on peace, and attributed the recurring attacks on the villages of Riyom and Barkin Ladi councils to the presence of strangers from Berom and Fulani herdsmen.WHAT do you make of the recent attacks in Riyom and Barkin Ladi councils'The Riyom and Barkin Ladi councils should be commended as places in the senatorial district that had been peaceful. The Berom, Fulani Muslims and Christians, and other tribes have hitherto existed peacefully. It is just unfortunate that just when we think peace has come to stay, there was an eruption of violence. It is a source of concern. Right now, the villagers in Riyom are displaced and are in camps. Some have gone as far as Aboro in Sanga council of Kaduna State to take refuge there.I believe that we will continue to talk with all those involved and gradually their confidence will be restored and they can live peacefully as a people again. One of the things I take serious is that the people should resist the resurgence of strangers among them. I believe that the strangers are the ones causing the problems. The Berom and the Fulani who have been there for a long time, don't have problems among themselves. I talked with the Ardos (Fulani community leaders) and they are complaining. We need to fish out and flush these strangers. There has to be a dialogue among the residents of Riyom council. All those residents must sit down and dialogue and ensure that outsiders do not come and cause problems.I know that the military has been doing a lot.But what they need to do now is to change their tactics. And I believe that they know where these attackers are because some of the citizens there in Riyom council have even reported to the Special Task Force (STF), giving them names and addresses, and other details. They need to do something about it. I am not saying that anyone should be killed, but we should be able to make some arrests to serve as a deterrent to anyone who wants to cause problem. I think also that there is the need to change some of the leadership of the STF as it may give people more confidence. Let a different person come and perhaps there could be new ways of doing things to restore peaceful co-existence.If there is no peace, we cannot continue this way where people are being killed daily. This is the rainy season and people cannot go to their farms because they are afraid of attacks. They are all afraid that if they go to the farm, they will be killed. They are even killed when they are at home. These attacks used to be carried out in the nights, but now, they do it in a broad daylight. It calls for serious concern.I feel that the security agencies are doing well, but if it is getting out of their hands, let them have a change. The recent change of the leadership of the STF calls for commendation. It means they are actually sensitive to the yearnings of the people and we pray that the new person will be able to restore some degree of peace. There was relative peace when Maj.-Gen. Olayinka Oshinowo was the STF commander. There was peace for some months without any problem. But as soon as he was changed, there was a disruption of peace.Do you think the aim of the state of emergency declared in four of the six councils in your senatorial district is ineffective considering the spate of attacks there'I don't believe that any of these four local councils in Plateau qualifies to have been under a state of emergency. It was wrong diagnosis. I am convinced that whoever prescribed the emergency rule was wrong, because we did not fit into the criteria to suffer a state of emergency. The problems of the other councils elsewhere where a state of emergency was declared are not the same with what we have in Plateau. And even up till now, the problems we have on the Plateau are not really that of the so-called Boko Haram issues. These attacks are purely of ethnic origin; they are not even of a religious nature. The Hausa are not involved and it is not all the Muslims that are involved. It is an ethnic crisis. I don't want to say it, but it looks more like an ethnic cleansing and we need to handle this differently. We didn't need to be grouped among other councils where different kinds of crises are breaking out. We need to look at each one on its own merit and solve it properly. What is happening in Riyom council is between the Fulani and the Berom and we need to handle it that way. If we lump it with others, we will just miss the mark. So, we have actually been trying to tell the people that it is not a religious issue but rather an ethnic problem in Riyom council.How do you think you can restore the confidence of the people in the military following their experiences with the STF in the past'I have talked to our people, the leaders of the Fulani and the Berom on the need to accept the military. We don't have any other form of security apart from them. God is the biggest security over all of us. But the Nigerian security services are the ones on ground; God is using them. I have also talked to the security personnel and I told them that if people do not have confidence in them, there is little they can do. This means they will not be able to maintain peace. And for us to have dialogue, there has to be a ceasefire and if the person that will cause the ceasefire does not have confidence in you, dialogue will not be possible; fighting will continue. We cannot have fruitful dialogue while there is crossfire. I have talked to the military on ways we can intervene to improve their work. They have complained about the difficult terrain, there are no roads, etc. But the roads are not something that can be built in one day. I understand that some of the roads in Riyom are in the budget, but it will take some time for the roads to be constructed.What efforts are you making to bring the displaced persons back to Plateau'I was recently with the governor and there are steps to bring all the displaced persons back to the state. It is better for them to come back to the state. If someone leaves his hometown and goes elsewhere, there is a tendency that if he stays for a long time, he may just remain there. So, it is very important for them to come back home and very soon, we will see how they will go back to their original places. All the Fulani, Berom people should get back to their original places. The governor has arranged with the council chairmen to bring them back to the state. About 21,000 people are taking refuge outside the state. It is very sad that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has not done anything about these people. NEMA is supposed to have come in immediately. NEMA knows about all these, but NEMA has been quiet. I expect NEMA to have come to our rescue in Riyom council. Individuals, councils, state governments etc have taken relief materials there, but NEMA has been very quiet. I expect that NEMA should wake up to its responsibility. That is what it is meant for. The displaced persons are feeling dejected and they should come back. Even the Fulani who had run to Aboro should come back. But the Fulani people that are not part of us, should not come back. Let them stay there. Let them go to where they came from. If they do that, that will be better for us.
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