Africa-Press – Nigeria. A Plateau Diaspora group, under the aegis of the Plateau State Association, USA, Inc. (PSA-USA), has described the killing of Christians in the state as a targeted genocide aimed at exterminating natives in the local communities and chasing them out of their ancestral lands.
The PSA-USA which raised the alarm in a statement issued on Friday by its National President, Dr. Barth Shepkong, described the lingering violent attacks in Plateau communities as an “intentional, coordinated and genocidal campaign targeting Christian communities across the state.”
The group also called on the Federal Government to overhaul the state’s security architecture, deploy adequate security to affected communities, and ensure urgent humanitarian support for displaced families.
The PSA-USA further warned that the scale and consistency of attacks in the state only point to a “deliberate effort to depopulate, displace, and take over ancestral lands belonging to Christian communities.”
In the statement titled “Christian Persecution, Genocide, and the Ongoing War of Occupation in Plateau State and the Middle Belt,” the Diaspora group accused both the state and federal government and security agencies of failing to deal decisively with perpetrators of mass killings in the state, which have continued to embolden them..
“These continuous attacks and killings, which have decimated our communities, especially in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Riyom Kanam, and several other flashpoints, are nothing but organised killings, systematic displacement, seizure of farmlands, and the deliberate destruction of homes and livelihoods,” the group said.
“These atrocities are intentional, coordinated, and aimed at depopulating and dispossessing Christian communities from their ancestral lands. This is not communal violence; it is a sustained and ruthless campaign,” Shepkong said.
Shepkong stressed that what is going on in the state has met the global definition of a genocide despite attempts by the Federal Government to downplay its existence, emphasizing that the attacks in Plateau are driven by targeted religious persecution and enforced through a growing war of occupation.
“This crisis persists largely due to a dangerous failure of political will to confront perpetrators, dismantle violent networks, and provide adequate protection for vulnerable populations.
“Silence in the face of mass killings is complicity, and any peace built on denial or political convenience is both false and unsustainable,” the PSA-USA noted.
The group called for an immediate and uncompromised investigation into the killings, as well as the arrest and prosecution of all perpetrators and sponsors.
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