The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, arrived at Yakubu Gowon airport, Heipang on Saturday for a condolence visit, and assessment of areas attacked in Zikke community of Bassa local government area.
The minister was received by General Officer Commanding 3 Division Nigerian Army and Commander Operation Safe Haven, Maj Gen Folusho Oyinlola, accompanied by Rtd Brig Gen Gakji Shipi, Special Assistant to the Governor on security matters and other senior military officers.
This is as a prominent Northern Christian cleric, Isa El-Buba, raised alarm over what he described as an ongoing genocide in the state.
El-Buba alleged that foreign terrorists are colluding with some local herders to violently displace communities and occupy their ancestral lands.
“These are not the local herders that we used to know. These are Fulani terrorists who target communities. When these terrorists come in, they connive with some of the locals.
”They give them information. They come in from outside and they invade,” he said.
Speaking during an appearance on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Friday, a socio-political programme on Channels TV, the cleric strongly supported the recent assertion by Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, that the attacks in the state amount to genocide.
The Jos-based cleric, who hails from Borno State, while speaking on the recent killings on the Plateau, argued that the repeated and coordinated nature of the violence indicates a well-orchestrated plan to destabilise the region and ultimately reconfigure its demographic and territorial identity.
