Tension is brewing in Plateau State as a coalition of youth groups under the banner of Concerned Plateau Youths (CPY) has appealed to security agencies to permit residents of communities vulnerable to banditry and herdsmen attacks to carry weapons for self-defence.
The group made the plea during a press conference held in Jos on Sunday, insisting that the recurring invasions, killings, and destruction of farmlands across the state had become unbearable.
Addressing journalists, the coordinator of the group, Mr Gershon Auta, stated that the appeal was not a call for anarchy but a desperate cry for survival in the face of persistent insecurity.
“Youths in Plateau State are not cowards. We are not afraid to confront the Fulani militias and bandits who invade our villages, kill our people, and seize our lands,” Auta declared.
He explained that while the youths had the will and courage to defend their communities, the law’s prohibition on the possession of firearms had left them defenceless, even as assailants continued to operate freely with sophisticated weapons.
“We are law-abiding citizens. We do not want to take the law into our own hands. But it is frustrating that whenever our people attempt to defend themselves using locally made weapons, security forces arrest and label them criminals,” he lamented.
Citing a recent incident in Bokkos Local Government Area, Auta alleged that some community youths who repelled an attack using locally made guns were later arrested by soldiers and branded as armed robbers.
“Those young men only tried to protect their people. Instead of being appreciated, they were rounded up, and some of them are still missing to this day. We demand their immediate release or arraignment before a competent court,” he stated.
The group questioned how bandits and militias continued to acquire sophisticated arms without restraint, while law-abiding citizens were denied the means to defend themselves.
“We are forced to ask, where do these attackers get their weapons? Are they legally procured? Why should we be stopped from acquiring the same means of protection when government security has failed to defend us?” Auta queried.
