The gruesome killing of 12 travellers from Basawa in Zaria, Kaduna State, heading to Quan Pang local government area of Plateau State for a wedding ceremony is sad and condemnable. The driver who was conveying the passengers missed his way, and was intercepted by mobs in Mangu. The mobs after identifying the travellers, descended on them and killed eight persons on the spot, and set the bus belonging to Ahmadu Bello University ablaze. The remaining passengers who sustained various degrees of injuries were moved to Mangu General Hospital. The attacks and killings of innocent travellers have become a recurring event in Plateau State’s communities. Many innocent travellers had met their untimely deaths at the hands of these merchants of death who threw out of the window any decency and humanity. Plateau State was once a peaceful state. It bears the slogan “Home of peace and tourism.” The state housed different ethnic groups which coexisted peacefully over a long period of time.

  However,the once peaceful and serene environment of Plateau State had since been shattered and turned to a centre of conflict,with many lives and properties lost due to prolong orgy or violence. Now,there is deep mutual suspicion among the various ethnic groups in the state.The lingering conflict between the nomadic Fulani and sedentary farmers has defied any solution in the state.There is an ongoing cycle of revenge and counter revenge attacks among the perceived aggressors and victims which made the conflict difficult to resolve. The violence has since been ethnised and wore religious toga. At a slight provocation or attacks from aggressors who are believed to be Fulani,innocent travellers are attacked and killed with impunity. The mobs waylaid the travellers,believing they share the same faith or tribe with their aggressors. 

  The killing of innocent travellers did not start with Basawa innocent wedding guest.In 2021,some Fulani from Ondo State visited their revered Islamic scholar in Bauchi. Sadly,they were killed in Plateau State when their driver mistakenly ran into some protesters. Also,in 2018, Major General Alkali was gruesomely murdered by some youths in Du community of Jos South local government. It is sad to note that the perpetrators of these heinous act get away with their sins. Their ungodly acts did not go beyond condemnation. The inability of government to punish the culprits has further emboldened their nefarious activities. Though the Plateau State governor,Caleb Muftwang has described the killings as barbaric and promised to arrest and prosecute the culprits,he should match his words with action. 

 Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State