Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that President Bola Tinubu has been heartbroken since he got news of the recent killings in Barkin Ladi and Bokkos local government areas of Plateau State.
Shettima said this when he visited the crisis-ravaged communities in the state, his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, said in a Wednesday statement.
He said the president “is deeply shaken by this tragedy and shares in this unspeakable sorrow that has shattered the joy of Christmas across the country”.
“When one community bleeds, the entire nation feels the pain. The pain we feel now transcends ethnicity or religion, geography or politics. The grief that binds us is a testament to our shared humanity, not differences,” he added.
The vice president assured victims of the gruesome attacks that justice would be done.
According to the statement, the vice president condoled with the people and state government over the recent killings.
Noting that the killings on the Plateau and other parts of the country must stop, the VP said, “Now Please accept our heartfelt condolences. Please accept our deepest apologies. Because we won’t rest until you access justice and until you are safe.”
Identifying with the grieving families who lost loved ones in the attack, Shettima said it was an indescribable nightmare to bury families, describing it as a rare experience that is much more unbearable than the pain of losing one or two loved ones.
“We cannot fathom the depth of this grief beyond the experience of the bereaved. We can only offer to assuage your pain. What has happened to you is a funeral for the entire nation. Our hearts bleed alongside yours, our dear brothers and sisters in Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi, and all over Plateau State,” he stated.
Shettima assured the people that the Tinubu administration is out to protect them and ensure justice, even though it may appear as if the government has failed them in their time of serious need.
Noting that justice is the path to collective safety, unity, and healing of the nation, he said, “We came to power promising to uphold the sanctity of every citizen’s life, and now is the time to reassure you that this inter-community violence, which has hijacked the humanity and serenity of this beautiful State over the past decades, will never persist under our watch. We will harness all our resources to bring those responsible to justice; we will not rest until we are able to prevent the recurrence of these heinous acts.
“Your blood, your tears, and your cries stain our collective conscience. We are here for you, we are here, resolute in our commitment to ensuring that the perpetrators of these mindless killings face the full force of the law.”
He however appealed to the people of Plateau State to resist what he described as “the temptation to succumb to sectional divisions or the poisonous rhetoric of hatred towards” their fellow citizens while assuring that the government is set out to ensure justice and security for them.
“This violence persists due to this dangerous practice of treating criminals as ambassadors of their group, where the law is taken into our hands, and where protection fails. But this is not the case now. This is a promise,” Shettima stated.
It only stops when the killers are killedt