By Israel Joel
As Plateau State gets set to conduct local government elections, a cross-section of elders in the state has raised concerns about the safety of students of the University of Jos as they resume academic activities.
The elders in a press text read on Wednesday by Dachollom Jambol in Jos said, “We, some concerned elders of Plateau state are constrained to address the government and people of Plateau regarding the Local Government elections scheduled to hold in the 17 LGAs of the State on Saturday 9″ October 2021.
It would be recalled that the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, PLASIEC had fixed October 9 for local government election while the University of Jos resumes academic activities on October 11.
They said ” For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state that we are not politicians and do not belong to any political platform but are a group of elders who are concerned with the peace and stability of the state.
“In fact, we wish to commend the Plateau State government for making arrangements for the conduct of the elections in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, we are deeply worried about the timing of the elections in view of recent happenings in the state.
“We wish to state that Plateau state is still mourning the precious lives that were and in some cases are still being needlessly murdered especially in Jos North and Bassa LGAs of the state which necessitated the imposition of lengthy curfews in at least three of the six LGAs of the Northern senatorial district.
“One major area of concern relates to the timing of the elections in view of the reopening of the University of Jos for academic activities.
” You will recall that following the breach of the peace which led to the killing of not less than 38 people in the Yelwa Zangam community, a village behind the University while the 24-hour curfew imposed by the State was still subsisting, state governments and parents of students across the entire country had to make emergency arrangements to evacuate their children.
“It is not unlikely that several students may have lost their lives during the crises. It is horrifying to note that as recently as this week; there have been reports of further killings in both Irigwe and Pengana Chiefdoms of Bassa LGA.
While we do not pray for any reoccurrence of the mindless violence that necessitated the closure of the University, we strongly insist that any event that could result in the breach of the peace in the state or any part thereof, be postponed to allow students to finish their 2019/2020 academic session without any threat to their lives.”
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He added, “Our demand above is justified by the contentious history of Local Government elections in the state from 1999 to date. It is on record that these elections have most of the time resulted in violence. That is why successive governments have always avoided elections, especially in Jos North LGA due to its volatile tendencies and in some cases outcomes. It is on record that the present government had earlier in 2018 suspended local elections in 4 LGAs of the Northern Senatorial District including Jos North citing security concerns.
“We can state without contradiction that security arrangements in those LGAs have not improved but rather deteriorated. It is common knowledge that the curfew in the affected LGAs is still subsisting.
The elders called on the Plateau State government and PLASIEC to postpone the elections until the security situation significantly improves.”
