After July 7 invasion of seven villages of Gashisha District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area and Bachit District of Riyom Local Government Area, all in Plateau State, PEMBI STEPHEN-DAVID and Achor Abimaje write that the villagers are still refugees awaiting Federal Government's intervention.

The inhabitants of Karkuruk,Kuzen, Ruk, Kogoduk, Dogo and Ngyo were living their normal live: farming, rearing animals, going to school and worshiping their creator. That was how normal they were, happy and contented, until on Friday, July 7, 2012, when their homes were destroyed, leaving them homeless till today.

Their sorry state can be noticed when you approach the COCIN Church, LCC Kworos Gangare in Barkin Ladi town. The sight of children, leaders of tomorrow, who should be in their various schools, playing around the church premises, spoke more of the neglect the these people are currently going through.

Not too pleased with the situation, Rev'd Bulus Dung said the displaced victims of the village "have no home and cannot take care of themselves." The man of God, who was moved by the plight of the people, added that "the norm of the scripture teaches love, sympathy and kindness."

He gave LEADERSHIP SUNDAY a graphic picture of how the people can to be inmates in his church. "We were here, when all of a sudden, we saw a crowd coming from Gashish district that had been displaced. When they came, we had no option than to receive them and accommodate them in the church."

Explaining further, he added that "the church was built newly. You can even see the project is ongoing. We have no accommodation, but we just allowed them into the church.

There are about 175 people. We have sympathy for them, as we are worried about their safety. They need mattress and blanket, and I was about telling the people in the town to bring them mattresses when suddenly the Commissioner for Environment, Serah Yusuf, brought some mattresses."

The reverend said what was brought were shared to the people, while thanking the council chairman for his immense assistance, and some individuals, like the late Gyang Fulani, who came immediately after the incident and offered some amount of money for the displaced people to buy food and soap for their uses.

He added that the communities in the town also came with food items, saying that is how the people have been surviving since they came from Gashish to the area.

Rev. Dung added further that they got some food items from the council and the COCIN Church in Kwol. "The church's women fellowship also cook food for the people to eat. That is how we have been managing our life since the incident happen," he said.

According to Dung, there are a lot of children, and old men and women sleeping in the church. He added that so far, they have not got any assistance from the Federal Government.

Mr. Andrew Mashash, a member of Kpwabiduk Village, whose parents are still missing, said: "It is sad that people we know, among many others, led the killings. These are youths we grew up together with. They always pass through this village to go to town, but they brought people to kill our people.

We saw them and were able to recognise them. They chased us to the bridge, but my parents who were too old could not make it to the bridge. Since we have not seen them after the incident, today being the ninth day, we believe they could be dead. It is painful that we have not seen their bodies."

The Village Head of Ningwong (Kpwabiduk), Gashish District of Barkin Ladi Council Area, Da Maiuchibi Mafulal, said eight members of his family were killed during the attack, while appealing to both the state and the Federal Government to safeguard their lives as they have no place to run to.

According to Da Thomas John, the village head of Kachin Ward, Gashish District, the Federal Government should assist them with enough security personnel to protect them, while enabling them to do their farming.

He also lamented that their children have not been going to school since the incident occurred. The development, he said, was not good for the children, who are leaders of tomorrow.

According to a villager, Chief Gyang Jok, the Federal Government has failed them. He added that nobody assisted them when the people of the area were being displaced, stressing that their houses were burnt and their properties looted and carted away.

In his words: "We appeal to the Federal Government that if actually we are also Nigerians, they should come to our aid and assist us in terms of security and provision of relief materials to alleviate our suffering." He stated that 10 villages were attacked during the mayhem.

According to Pastor Pam Audu, who is the pastor in-charge of COCIN Church, Kpwabiduk, four people were killed around his church. He said they woke up to hear gunshots from all directions, while the people started running for safety.

Audu described the situation thus: "We saw people dressed in black with guns coming to attack us," adding that "they called on their people, both children and adult, to run," as the people were advancing towards them.

He narrowly escaped being killed in the process that Saturday, saying the old men among them, however, could not make it through to the bridge leading to Kurra Falls.

In his words: "We are now looking for Da Madugu Manyas, an 80-year-old man, his wife, Ngo Annah; and Da John Mashash and Da Sunday Maflal, who have been missing since that Saturday."

While speaking to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, the Treasurer of Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Husseni Sidi, said: "All we need from the authorities of Plateau State is a level playing ground while resolving the problems between the Fulani and the Beroms.

We have not been regarded as people of the state. Whenever we are attacked, no one says anything.But when there is an attack on the Beroms, all hell is let loose. We are not happy about what is happening, and I can tell you that we did not harm them. If anything happens, it is a usual thing for the government to say we caused it. If the government want lasting peace, they should treat us equally."

Also speaking to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, the Chairman of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Hon. Emmanuel Loman, added that his people were attacked right in their homes and killed, while their houses were destroyed.

According to him, a lot of them were displaced and are seeking refuge in churches and "as a local government council, we are trying to rehabilitate them. Basically, that is what we are trying to do for now."

He added that when the incident first happened on the plateau, "we made it clear to the Federal Government and other prominent sons of this country about what was happening, and made it known to them that the people that were attacking us were terrorists.

They did not take us serious until when it began to spread to other parts of the country; that was when the Federal Government took us serious."

Loman further said when the state of emergency was declared in four local government areas of the state, and "when they brought in security agencies, we were told vividly that if any of the factions (the indigenes and the Fulanis) goes to attack the other one, the security agencies will act very seriously on them and deal with the faction that tried to foment trouble." This end of the bargain could not be met by the security operatives, according to him.

Lamenting further, Loman added that the security operatives were just singing songs that were meaningless, adding that during the state of emergency, there were a lot of attacks; the Fulanis were attacking the indigenes. "For once, the indigenes have never attacked the Fulanis," he said, stressing that "it is on record, you can go and verify it."

The chairman further noted that the Federal Government did not take these things seriously, saying that the government was playing politics with the issue that had to do with people's lives, saying that government was only "using religious sentiment until today that we have found ourselves where we are."

He added that the people that came to attack them were hired by people in the area as some of them were brought from neighbouring countries.

Loman further stated that he did not know what the immigration officers at the borders were doing, "because we can see where this country is going to," noting that, at the moment, "we have not seen any serious actions being taken on them.

I do not know what they are waiting for. Is it until the indigenes begin to carry weapons to revenge that the Federal Government will now come in?"

Loman noted that they were being treated on the plateau as if they were not part and parcel of Nigeria. "The state (Plateau) accommodates a lot of people of different tribes, and if we allow this to continue, it has the capacity to break this country," he lamented.

"I want to called on the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency, to see what happened when President (Olusegun) Obasanjo was the president of this country. He is a Christian, the people of Zakibiam were Christians, but when there was a problem there, he swept everywhere there, and that brought about peace in the area, and even in Bayelsa," he said.