Ugar Ukandi Odey, Jos
Honourable Dr Simon Mwadkwom Fwet, member representing Barkin Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency, has observed that the recent killing of the District Head of Foron in Barkin Ladi Area of Plateau State, Da Bulus Chuwang Jang, was not only unwarranted and unprovoked, but an indication that “there is no peace in Plateau yet”.
Jang was stabbed and shot at close range around 8.00pm by unknown hoodlums who were said to been trailing him as they pulled him out from his palace through a phone call as they ambushed him.
Fwet narrated that that on the said day, the royal father had a chat with the security operatives in the area to chart a way forward on the incessant attacks in the area, and regretted that it was that same day that he was gruesomely murdered.
With this, Honourable Fwet disagreed with those who say there is relative peace in the area, saying, “as far as I am concerned, there is no peace to celebrate. People are still being killed and they lost their farmlands. Nobody can say what was responsible for the killing of the royal father”.
Hon Fwet noted further that “a meeting was convened thereafter by the stakeholders where it was discerned that most of the attacks came from Jos East, and we believe there is need to disclose the identity of the attackers because they always come from there. So, since we are with the security, we are sure the attackers will be brought to book in no distant future.”
Fwet also ridiculed and scorned the government usual claim of being on top of the situation in the event of any attack as empty and ineffectual, pointing out that while arrests are sometimes made, at the end of the day, nobody is prosecuted and the suspects will return to their heinous activities.According to him, “we have never seen any of the arrested criminals being prosecuted or sentenced to imprisonment. We want to see the prosecution of the criminal elements. I have personally submitted names of the criminals to the security agencies but none has been prosecuted.”
Similarly, Honourable Fwet carpeted the federal government on the recent water bill, noting “that the bill had died on arrival”. He said “even before the bill was presented to us, it had been thrown away. The argument before us showed that nobody was interested in it. It was believed that it was inimical to the country”.
Explaining further, he noted that “all land matters belong to the states. The federal government doesn’t have any control of the land. For the federal government to wake up one day to claim that all water ways belong to the federal government is heinous. I said that that bill was dead on arrival. Nobody supported it. As far as House of Representatives is concerned, it died on arrival”.
Accordingly, he concluded that “we believe it was an attempt to institutionalise Fulani hegemony in Nigeria, especially the foreign Fulani. The bill was a time bomb. It was capable of throwing the nation into anarchy and war. It is dead. It can’t come again. It can come again only in the 10th Assembly. Land in the constitution belongs to the states and not the federal government”.
