Since 1994 when the first violent riots that left scores dead and many houses burnt occurred, Jos has become a gigantic pot, allowed to cool for some time by lack of use, but heated up occasionally till its contents boil over.
Since then, the frequency of violence comes almost with prophetic assurances such that between 1994 and today, there have been not less than eight of such violence erupting in the city making it an average of one violence every two years.
From the fits and starts of 1994, right through to the yawning gap of 2001, the fever seemed to have caught on with the frequency of a worsening relapse in medical condition such that it occurred in 2004, 2008 and 2010 and, sometimes, occuring more than once within a year.
The rate of violence eruption has worsened since 2008. Within a months, peace cold be driven out to make way for more rounds of violence as it happened in January 2010, then March, with several other skirmishes in between, and the last one that explosives were detonated in parts of the state capital, killing about 100 and wounding several others.
Residents of Jos who were already in the mood for Christmas, heard loud explosions at about 8 am on December 24, 2010 and a few hours later, the whole town was literarily turned upside down as the air of conviviality preceding Christmas gave way to cries of anguish from those affected by the explosion; pains of losing loved ones, shock from the reality of what had just occured, confusion from not knowing where to run to and frustration from outright helplessness.
The next day, it was evident that what hit Jos were ruthlessly crafted and well-coordinated acts of mass murder, viciously planned with thoroughness and executed with cold bloodedness.
How did Jos, which has literarily been under siege with the huge presence of security personnel since the November 2008 crisis, give accommodation to a security breach of that magnitude?
Immediately it happened, the authorities moved swiftly to mollify an irate lot, the usual refrain which promises hope that investigations into the matter were going to be conducted while justice would be delivered at the doorsteps of those behind the heinous crime as usual, rang out.
President Goodluck Jonathan’s reaction came almost immediately. He promised that those behind the acts will be fished out.
The Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, gave a similar promise. Other security agencies in the state were soon to follow.
The state governor promised that the perpetrators would be apprehended and brought to book. He said in a state broadcast after the explosions, that the safety of lives and property will also be ensured.
The state commissioner of police, Abdulrahman Akanno, assured that the police would investigate the matter to bring those behind the explosions to book. Raising further hopes as had not happened in recent times; the police commissioner said his men had uncovered some leads which might take them to the desired destination to fish out those that committed the crime.
However, if history is anything to go by, the assurances, right from the one made by the president, then later by the state government and security agencies, ring hollow as there have been many of such assurances in the past, but nothing has been done. The assurances seem more like a ritual, than what is really meant.
In the recent past, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, soon after the November 2008, crisis in Jos promised to bring the perpetrators to book.
After various inquiries by the federal government, its agencies, the state government and its agencies, as well as other independent groups, not much was revealed.
The federal government, its agencies and the state government are yet to make public, the result of their findings. A sneak preview into some of the findings has also shown that the inquiries have not revealed any hidden fact, but chose to ride on prevailing sentiments.
The government’s White Paper on the 1994 riots in Jos did not see the light of day until September 2004, while the 2001 report of the Judicial Commission of inquiry into the civil disturbances in Jos and its environs was not out till April, 2009. That of 2004 was not issued till 2009.
The Prince Bola Ajibola Commission of inquiry into the 2008 Jos crisis has long wound up and submitted a 337-page report to the state government since 2009, but issuing the White Paper has been put on hold almost two years after.
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The Dutse Uku crisis and the subsequent violence in many parts of Jos South including Kuru Karama, Tim Tim and Bisichi, in January 2010, leading to the visit of the then Acting President to the state and the collaboration of northern governors to get to the root of the matter did not yield much.
Not much has been uncovered as what actually led to the crisis and those who were behind the killings. Even the Dogo Na Hauwa killings have remained largely unresolved. Going by what has been achieved in terms of investigations, it would seem the killers came from Mars and have since retreated to their unreachable abode.
The Chrismas eve bomb blasts happened more than a week ago and the lead that the police talked about seemed to have thinned out without further clues.
Rather than updates on how investigations have gone, the matter has been taken over by politicians.
Fears that investigations would go the way of the past
The White Papers of the 1994, 2001 and 2004, Jos crisis indicted some persons, but their late release made it impossible to ascertain the veracity of the findings, more so as the people affected have lost interest after many years of wait.
Investigations have shown that many factors have in the past, contributed to the delay in the release of the White Paper which would have made it easy for the government to take steps to prosecute those behind the crime.
These, according to many analysts, include lack of political will, frequent changes in political leadership in the state and in the country, the urge to put the ugly past behind, the hope that there won’t be a reoccurrence and the fear the reaction might generate.
Barrister Solomon Dalung, a former chairman of the Association of local government chairmen, ALGON, in the state, said the collapse of enforcement mechanism, occasioned by the lack of political will to do justice is what is responsible for the inability of the government to get to the root of the matter.
He explained that once the people realise that this is the situation, they tend to perpetuate such crimes because they feel they can get away with it.
“Neglect has taken a long period of time; people have lost confidence in the ability of government to do justice, hence they cannot come out and give useful information.
President of the Igbo Democratic Forum, Chief Chidi Ndu on his part blamed the inability to get to the root of the matter on the protection some of the suspects receive from those in positions of authority.
“The perpetrators have the backing in Abuja who use their connections to thwart the course of justice.”
He said an example is the case where only recently people caught with explosives were taken to Abuja and nothing has been heard about them since then.
“People in custody should be made to account for how they got those bombs, justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
The situation now
A little over a week after the blasts, some issues have been added to the matter which may further compound the problem and obfuscate the vision to resolve the mystery. Just a day after the blasts, the state governor said they were politically motivated.
No further details were provided as to how this could be so, except the fact that the bombs exploded few days to the PDP ward congress which was to hold nationwide. The governor said the plan was that once the bombs explode, then Christians and Muslims would be pitched against each other creating an orgy of violence that would make election activities impossible in Plateau.
While the security agencies might be working on this lead, supporters of the governor came out with their positions and placed the blame for the explosions on the door step of the deputy governor, Pauline Tallen, who is challenging Jang in the 2011 gubernatorial race. The nexus is said to be her constant preachments on peaceful coexistence in the state and her strong belief that she possesses the ability to attain one when she becomes governor.
This, naturally drew the ire of the deputy governor who also reacted. She maintained that the accusations were only meant to stop her but that she cannot be cowed.
Many wonder why a very sensitive matter like that which resulted in the death of more than 24 persons should be politicized.
Shortly after the blasts, about four youths have been arrested with explosives. The STF that made the arrest, said they have handed them over to the police for further investigations, but not much has come from the police in that respect.
Still, a sect known more by its alias of Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the blasts, but the police have dismissed it as diversionary.
More troops and units of mobile policemen, have been sent to Jos since the incident, but the spark ignited by the comments of the president promising to round up the culprits has not been sustained.
This gives the impression that the interest of the federal government in the matter has become lukewarm.
All these threaten the hope of getting to the root of the Jos bomb blasts.
