The Displaced People of Bokkos, a coalition of persons who have been dislodged and chased out of their ancestral lands in Bokkos local government area of Plateau State by Fulani bandits, terrorists, and land grabbers, have cried out to Governor Caleb Mutfwang to fulfill his promises of facilitating their return.
The group, in an open letter addressed to the Governor on Monday, lamented that due to their displacement and the takeover of their lands by the bandits, they have been forced to live like destitutes in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps, begging for food to eat.
At the same time, their children have been turned into beggars and their wives and daughters have resorted to prostitution all in a bid to survive, they lamented.
The open letter, which was signed by the Coordinators of the displaced people, Mangut Alfred, Micah Malo and David Arandong respectively and made available to DAILY POST, said it was disheartening that despite several promises by the state government that they would soon go back to their lands, nothing was being done on the part of the government as they have been abandoned to their fate.
The group also decried the fact that while their fertile lands lie wasted as the occupiers are not farmers, they have been exposed to severe hardship, hunger and deprivation.
“We, the Displaced People of Bokkos, make this solemn appeal to our Governor, His Excellency, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang to kindly fulfill his promises of facilitating our return to our ancestral homes following our displacement by Fulani bandits and terrorists.
“Some of our people have been chased out of our lands for more than five years and life has not been easy for us. We have been forced to live in IDP camps in very deplorable conditions.
“Some of us are living with relatives who themselves barely have enough to feed. We have become beggars in our own state; our children have become beggars, our wives and daughters have resorted to prostitution to make ends meet while some of our able-bodied young men have become criminals.
“Sir, over the years, you have promised that your government is doing everything possible to facilitate our return to our ancestral lands. However, these promises have all turned out to be false hopes as nothing has been done to achieve this.
“Your Excellency, we are appealing to you to kindly fulfill those promises so that we can go back home and farm especially as the rainy season approaches. Those Fulani bandits who are currently occupying our fertile lands are not farmers as they only concentrate on their grazing and cattle rearing. What that means is that our lands are begging to be cultivated.
“Your Excellency, we make this appeal with tears in our eyes and the pains of watching our children and families suffer. We are not lazy people. We have always been industrious and hardworking farmers and we want to go back home and pick up our lives,” the letter read.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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