JOS MAYHEM Army takes over • 400 dead, Plateau govt confirms 200 • Tension pervades city • Abia, Anambra calm By Sun News Publishing Monday, December 1, 2008 •Charred remains of vehicles after the mayhem Photo: Sun News Publishing * More Stories on This Section The Nigerian Army on Sunday took over security in Jos, the Plateau State capital, two days after riots broke out in the city. Chief of Army Staff, General Abdulrahman Dambazza, on Sunday personally led fully armed troops to take over security in the Plataeu State capital where hundreds have lost their lives since riots broke out in the city on Friday. The police had earlier dispatched an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. Richard Chime, to assist in quelling the riots, but when security reports became alarming, Dambazzau had to be moved to Jos. The announcement last Friday of the results of the local council polls result, which sparked the riots did not help matters as tempers rose to the highest level and the situation would have gone out of hand, but for the intervention of the soldiers. Dambazza arrived the tin city on Saturday and personally supervised the deployment of soldiers to hot spots around the state early Sunday morning, amidst sounds of sporadic gunshots. He also led his men in patrolling the streets of the troubled state capital. He also visited displaced persons and assured them of relief materials. Soldiers mounted checkpoints in parts of the city and patrolled the streets in jeeps and on foot. Passers-by were ordered to raise up their hands while passing even as the soldiers continued to enforce the dusk to dawn curfew imposed on the city by the state government. Army spokesman, Brig. General Emeka Onwamaegbu told AFP on Sunday that the crisis was gradually abating. "The situation is gradually returning to normal. There’s not been any cases this morning," he said. About 400 people are believed to have lost their lives in the mayhem, even as property worth hundreds of millions has been razed. Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nuhu Gagara, told journalists on Sunday that hoodlums from neighbouring states unleashed fresh mayhem on the city at the weekend after Friday’s carnage had been successfully curtailed. He maintained that the riots and the subsequent destruction were pre planned as the elections had been concluded before some hoodlums decided to unleash mayhem on the state. He expressed the state government’s regrets on the crisis and said a search and rescue committee put in place by the government was already working to locate the dead and the injured. Contrary to reports that nearly 400 souls might have perished in the crisis, the commissioner said about 200 people died. At the town’s Central Mosque, the Aid Group of the Ja’amatu Nasril Islam was preparing mass burial for the victims whose identities could not be ascertained. Murtala Sani Hashim, who registered the dead as they were brought to the mosque, told Reuters on Sunday that 367 bodies had been brought in so far. The Red Cross said about 7,000 people have fled their homes and had taken refuge in government buildings, army barracks and religious homes. A spokesman for the Imam at the Jos Central Mosque, Samaila Abdullahi Mohammed, accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state of fuelling the crisis. "The PDP provided an all Christian ticket. They started the trouble because they couldn’t win," he observed. He accused policemen and troops deployed to quell the riots of "heavy-handed tactics." "As far as we are concerned, we have stopped the violence, but the police have not," he further said. Meanwhile, the Abia State government has been appealing to people in the state to remain calm following the destruction in Jos. In a message continuously run on electronic media in the state since the Jos crisis commenced, the government urged the people not to embark on reprisal killings following the situation in the Plateau State capital. Also in Anambra State, the situation remained calm on Sunday even as the government appealed to the people not to embark on violent attacks over the Jos crisis. At the Vatican on Sunday, Catholic Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, prayed for the victims of the Jos mayhem. He urged the world to express horror and disapproval at the senseless violence. Executive Director of the Christian Foundation for Social Justice and Equity, (CFSJES), Mr. Joseph Sangosanya, described the situation as "genocide." The CFSJES director said the state government mismanaged the whole situation because it allegedly ignored security reports about in-flow of people into Jos. Sangosanya dismissed as untrue, the assertion by the commissioner for information that there was no security reports, stressing that "the letters written by the civil society to the security agencies that they should beef up security in Jos and its environs were ignored by the government. "The information system by all the governme Join discussion...

Yar’Adua orders Jang to halt violence By Olusola Fabiyi and Everest Amaefule, Abuja Published: Saturday, 29 Nov 2008 President Umaru Yar’Adua has asked the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Jonah Jang, to bring the crisis rocking the state under control with immediate effect. The President, who spoke through the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. John Odey, also asked the security agencies to cooperate with the governor in his determination to bring peace back to the state. The minister spoke when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Information and Communications in Abuja. He said, “I want to bring to the notice of the National Assembly the ugly report that we received from Jos this morning on the local government election, which is ongoing and is marred with violence. This is unfortunate because this will undermine the reform programme of this administration. The President is sad and the Federal Government is very concerned about lives and property in Plateau State just as the Federal Government is concern about lives in other state. “We urge the security agencies to cooperate with the state governor to bring the crisis under control. Be rest assured that even as we leave here, we are getting information from Plateau and we will keep Nigerians informed. It is important that our politicians and electorate know that we must work to ensure that there is absolute peace otherwise there will be no development in the country.” In his reaction, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Dino Melaye, described the Jos mayhem as very bad and called on politicians in the state to learn from the United States where a peaceful presidential election was held on November 4. Melaye said, “The Jos situation is very bad coming after experiencing a very peaceful and organised election in the United States of America. For a local government election to be marred by this magnitude of violence is uncalled for. We in the National Assembly are condemning that situation. We are using this opportunity to call on all politicians to tell us that democracy will still remain that of the government of the people by the people and for the people and it is not government of the violent and for violence. “We are calling on Jos people to please drop their swords and give peace a chance. We cannot develop ourselves, our states and our local constituencies in a crisis situation. They should give the President an opportunity to implement the seven-point agenda. In times of crisis like this; it is practically impossible for us to give the President a chance for him to implement his plans and vision for the nation.” Join discussion...