The genocide in Jos is an indictment on all of us especially the fathers of Nigeria . As a father, my conscience pricked to the limit by the blood of innocent children and mothers that were killed in Jos, whether the 150 or 500 in number.

I think we as fathers have failed to protect our wives and children in times like this when some men have completely gone mad. You see, when men make wars the children and mothers suffer. In his book, The fatherhood principle Dr Myles Munroe challenged every father to Be the solid foundation of your family.

Develop the potential and gifts of children. Learn what a father really is. Discuss your life’s vision. Identify the five vital purposes of the male. Dr Munroe says “Men are supposed to ‘fasten’ the society - to secure it with beliefs and principles that don’t change” According to him “A father encourages steady, consistent, progressive growth in his family. A father encourages his family members to grow in God’s limitless potentials”

It is therefore right for me to conclude that the needless blood bathe we have been having in Nigeria since 1960 has been as a result of failure of men to do their God’s given duties as godly fathers. The President, the Governor, the Chief of Defense staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the IG of Police, the Commissioner of Police, the GOC 3 Armoured Division Jos are all men who by acts of omission or commission failed mothers and children they were supposed to protect.
Continue reading here.

A Nigerian rights body Thursday urged the United Nations to probe a massacre in Jos as a new local police chief vowed to crackdown on incessant sectarian violence in the central region.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to set up an international inquiry into "possible crimes against humanity...against innocent Nigerians, mostly children and women, some of them pregnant."
Hundreds of people have been slaughtered in Christian farming villages around the central city of Jos in the past 10 days. Three months ago, over 300 mainly Muslim residents of the Jos region were killed in sectarian clashes.
SERAP accused government of lethargy in punishing culprits.
"The government has shown itself to be unwilling or unable to address the situation, and to bring suspected perpetrators to justice," it said.
"It is now time for the international community to establish a commission of inquiry into the numerous targetted and systematic human rights violations that continue to be committed in Jos with absolute impunity."
A new police chief for the central region meantime vowed to crackdown on the incessant sectarian violence a day after a dozen people were slaughtered in a Christian village outside Jos city.
"We will provide more logistics, troops and helicopters to Plateau State for effective policing and maintainance of law and order. We will intensify community policing," said Donald Iroham.
He was appointed this week to replace a retired predecessor.
"My deployment to Jos is to join hands with police officers on ground to restore peace in the state," he told reporters.
SERAP said the culture of impunity for crimes committed in Jos has fuelled further killings while undermining the rule of law and endangering the fragile democratic dispensation in the country.
"We will not hesitate to prosecute anybody found to have a hand in the crisis," said Iroham.

Jos — The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) says it would hold both the state and the Federal Governments responsible for any future crisis in Plateau State.
The national President of NANS Comrade Jude Imagwe who spoke in Jos yesterday said students were tired of excuses and would want the government to take proactive measures to forestall a reoccurrence. He said government at all levels should live up to their responsibilities and ensure lasting peace in Plateau.
Comrade Imagwe said it was regrettable that the University of Jos had lost a session due to incessant crises in the state.
NANS called on government to expose those behind the crises in Plateau.

Gradually but systematically, Nigeria, through Jos, is back to the Hobbessian State of nature where life is nasty, brutish and short. The once peaceful city of Jos and its surrounding villages are now the abode of death. Sectarian violence had been the lot of the entire State in the last two years. In December 2008, there was a bloody confrontation which has ethnic, religious and political dimensions. The 2008 crisis claimed over 400 lives including those of three youth corps members whose offence was that they were serving their fatherland in Plateau State. The crisis then was attributed to a local government election that was manipulated in favour of a PDP candidate at the expense of the ANPP candidate believed to have won the election. The crisis later took an ethnic and religious dimension. In January 2010, Jos erupted in violence again when it was alleged that a Muslim who was trying to rebuild his house that was burnt during the 2008 crisis was prevented from doing so by a group of Christian youths who said they didn't want Muslims around the area again. It was alleged that the Muslim man invited soldiers who shot and killed some of the stone throwing youths. Violence escalated from that point as a village was surrounded and about 300 inhabitants were massacred in an early morning raid. Many corpses were later discovered at septic tanks and the army was accused of taken sides with the attackers in the crisis. The latest crisis has been described by some arrested culprits who participated in the mayhem as a revenge mission over the January attack.
Continue reading here.

Former military governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd), has warned against linking the recent mayhem in Jos, Plateau State to religious issues.
According to him, such would only provoke reprisal attacks in states where Moslems and Christians co-exist peacefully.
Umar, who spoke on Monday in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the country needed peace at the moment.
The former military administrator, who refused to speak on what he thought might be responsible for the recent carnage in the state or comment on the political situation in the country, said that there was the possibility that other issues led to it but ruled out religious intolerance among the inhabitants as one of them.
He said, “The latest crisis in Jos is not religious at all. If we make statements that it is religious in nature, then we will be calling for trouble in Kaduna and in the South-West, where Moslems and Christians live peacefully together.
“There may be some other causes of the violence, but it is not religious at all. I have read the comments of some people on the crisis in the newspapers, but would like to caution that we should be careful about how we handle the issue.”
Fresh violence had erupted in three communities in Shen village of Jos South Local Government Area of the state, in which many were feared dead barely two months after a similar crisis rocked in the state capital left many dead.
Also, speaking in a separate interview on the telephone, an erstwhile governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said that calls by some concerned citizens on Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to dissolve the Federal Executive Council would only create more problems in the polity.
Musa, who noted that the dissolution of FEC was the right decision the Acting President should take to make it more efficient, however, added that there were limitations to the powers of an Acting President in a country as complex as Nigeria.
Musa said, ‘‘The dissolution of FEC is the right thing the Acting President should do. But if he does that, there will be problems.
“We must not forget that there was even a problem arising from his own appointment as Acting President.
Continue reading here.

National Youth Council of Nigeria, Plateau State chapter, has accused Army spokesman, Brig. General Chris Olukolade, of politicising the massacre of hundreds of helpless women and children in Dogon-Nahawa and neighbouring villages.
In a press statement signed by the groups’ Chairmen, Iliya Lar and Silas Vem, the youths also faulted the Police spokesman, Mr. Lerama Mohammed, for hastening to conclude that the Fulani attackers were from Jos East and not Bauchi, adding that “apparently, this rush was intended to foreclose the widely held suspicion, not completely unfounded, that it was cross-border invasion.
"The youths said former Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Greg Ayanting, was transfered recently because of alleged haste to conclude that Muslim youths attacked Christians in the church when investigation was not yet completed, adding that Mohammed has made a similar blunder now and nothing is done to him.
They described the alleged frantic effort of Olukolade to cover up the lapses of the military by joining issues with Governor Jonah Jang, on whether or not the GOC received a call as unfortunate, adding that the military that boasted to have taken over the security of the state after the January crisis should have lived up to its responsibility.
Meanwhile, service held in many churches Sunday, with most of them praying for families affected by the mayhem.
In Faithway Chapel, Jos, the Plateau State Chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr. Sam Alaha, led the Church in prayer.He described the attack as unfortunate, and encouraged Christians to be strong in their commitment to God.
Preaching on Surviving the Tough Times, Alaha, who allayed fears, said “if you fail in the days of your adversity, it shows that your strength is weak."

“THE people that did this are just simply animals; they’re not human beings at all,” angrily exclaimed a parliamentarian, Chuks Ojukwu at a bus-stop gathering in Lagos. He was reacting to the gory pictures of the women and children who were murdered in their sleep in Jos by some fanatical, blood-thirsty Fulani herdsmen.
Still unable to contain his emotion, Chuks continued: “Heh! Look at innocent children who do not know anything or have wronged anybody slaughtered like this in cold blood. Oh, God will judge the people that did this; they must surely roast in hell fire!”
An equally angry Steven Adah took it up from there. “Hell fire ke? Who’s going to wait until they get to hell? They must first face the hell fire of our anger. What they have done is a crime against humanity for which they deserve instant punishment. Good enough, I heard that Police have arrested many of them and they are already confessing to have done it. The next thing is for them to face the penalty. Since they have killed innocent people in cold blood, they must also be killed,” he recommended with feeling..
But parliamentarian Sadiq Akanni called for restraint. “No, that’s not how to handle it. In a situation like this, the law must take its course. Which means those arrested in connection with the killings will go on trial and if found guilty will suffer the penalty prescribed by the law…,” he was saying before being interrupted by Chuks who went on to query heatedly thus: “What do you mean by saying if they are found guilty…? Are you questioning the fact that they are guilty of this terrible crime? People who were caught red-handed committing the crime and who are even proud to say they did it? Is there any other evidence we need to believe that they are guilty?”
Continue reading here.

In the last one week or so that Jos, the nation's Tin City, witnessed another orgy of killings, which is gradually, but unfortunately becoming its second identity, sane Nigerians, nay, the entire world have been beside themselves with indignation. The outrage has been as diverse as it is widespread.
The general condemnation, nationally and internationally, indicate a refreshing feeling that those who revel at the sight of human blood are still in the minority. Naturally, events in the world have shown that it is impossible to make it totally free of men and women, who would rather live like animals than humans, whose source of happiness is measured by the level of bestiality they inflict on fellow men.
The world, it seems, would continue to be stuck with men, like Adolph Hitler, who sent six million Jews to the Gas Chamber or Osama Bin Laden, who caused the death of close to five thousand people in less than five minutes, when he brought down the World Trade Centre or the butchers in Rwanda, who massacred more than 800,000 of their compatriots in a fell swoop. Yes, there will continue to be scenes, it seems, like the Mumbai bombing, the numerous carnages in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan for as long as there are men who have filled their hearts with loathing for fellow human beings.
For as long as they exist and use the wrong template in dealing with others other than the one handed down by God, humanity is not likely to see the last of the Boko Harams, Jos, Ife-Modakeke, Aguleri-Umuleri. Stories of Odi and Zaki-Biam would continue to be told, because the men that make them happen have not been removed.
But then, because they are in the minority and hopefully will remain so, they will continue to be in hiding from the majority, who cherish life and would want to preserve it.
Continue reading here.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) yesterday stated that no student will serve in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in Plateau State, following what it called ‘unending massacre’ in the state, and because of complaints from parents and students.
The association also said that it based its stand on previous incidents that led to the death of several youth corpers in the state, and that the directorate of the NYSC would be held responsible if any untoward incident occurred to youth corpers posted to the state.
In a press statement signed by Comrade Danjuma Bello Sarki and made available to LEADERSHIP, its vice president, national affairs, it said “the leadership of the above association have been receiving complains from corps members serving in Plateau State and their families over the high insecurity and uncertainty of life and property in that state, due to the unending massacre, gruesome murder and destruction of lives and property.
”Demanding the redeployment of serving corpers, and stoppage of those posted to the state, it added: “In the light of this, the leadership of NANS demands the redeployment of serving corps members and those who have just been posted to Plateau State, in the current Batch ‘A’ group, to states that are peaceful, in other for them to discharge their duties to their fatherland.“As it is today, the 2010 Batch ‘A’ corpers are afraid of reporting to their camp in Plateau State, for lack of security as corpers are becoming victims of these attacks.
”“The lingering Jos crisis has become a great source of concern to corps members and their families, therefore no one can guarantee the safety of their lives and property, hence the need for them to be redeployed to safer and secured States.We equally call on the Directorate of the NYSC to suspend the posting of Corpers to Plateau State pending the return of normalcy.As only the living can contribute to national development and progress.
Failure to heed to this demand, the Directorate of the National Youth Service Corps shall be held responsible for any death, injuries, loss of, or damage to the lives and property of corps members.

Apparently miffed on the recurrent Jos crisis, the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC), Brigadier General MI Tsiga has called on the state government to ensure the safety and protection of all corps members in the state.
The DG, who gave this charge through the Director of Publicity, Mr. E.O. Aiyedogbon, in a chat with LEADERSHIP yesterday, said that the agency is concerned about the security of the corps members in Jos metropolis and has been working with the Military, Police, SSS and the Civil Defence Corps to ensure that the corps members are secured.
The crisis which erupted as the agency started the registration of the 2010 Batch 'A', has attracted the attention of the public to the danger it could pose to the newly posted corps members to the state, many of whom probably may not have been acquitted with the metropolis.Mr. Aiyedogbon said: "The Director General has contacted the commanding Officer in charge of Jos, the director of the State Security Service (SSS), the Police and the Civil Defence Corps, to deploy more staff to the camp and the Corpers' lodge, within and outside, to secure it by all means necessary.
Even now, the Civil Defence have started patrolling the whole camp and environs.""The NYSC is also consulting with the state government including the DPOs in Jos metropolis to keep their men at alert, while the traditional rulers are also being spoken to.
The DG is looking critically into the safety of the corpers before the closing of the camp. We are also concerned of the security of those on ground already and we are taking every measure to make sure they are secured."The director said the agency only deployed 1,200 corps members to the state instead of 2,400 usually sent to each state. This is a measure to reduce the number of the Corp members posted to Jos metropolis.
He said: “The management has been helping the corpers who want to relocate to wherever they want and have also increased the registration days for those in that axis to seven days instead of the usual two days given to ensure that those that are skeptical have enough time to get to the camp and register." He also advised the corps members to be security conscious and always put on their uniform whenever they are traveling for identification and protection.

Hello. Thanks for reading and getting up to date on the jos crisis by reading up here and on other media but we all know that we need more than that to make a difference. We need your prayers, we need you to march for peace and justice, we need you to donate for the numerous families rendered homeless and hungry by this crisis, we need you to act.

If you want to make a financial contribution, please send your donations to the account below:

BANK: ACCESS BANK

ACCOUNT NAME: NIG. REDCROSS SOCIETY – JOS CRISIS RELIEF FUND

ACCOUNT NAME: 0430010005230

SORT CODE: 044080439

BRANCH: ADETOKUMBO ADEMOLA BRANCH, ABUJA

Worried by the renewed crisis in Jos, the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN) on Sunday urged the security agencies to be more alert in the discharge of their duties.
The MMPN made the appeal in a communiqué issued in Abuja after its monthly meeting calling on media houses to be objective and fair in their reportage of events in the country.
“As an umpire, the media has a duty to be fair, just and balance in its reportage of events, not only in respect of the Jos crisis, but other issues in line with the ethics of the journalism profession,” it said.
The communiqué, which was jointly signed by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, chairman, and Abass Jimoh, secretary of the association, also advised media practitioners to always cross-check their facts before publishing.
“In as much as the whole world knows that the crisis in Jos is not religious, it will not be in the interest of Nigerians to link the crisis to religion,” it said, adding that those arrested in connection with the crisis should be speedily prosecuted.
Crime and punishment
It also condemned the killings of innocent citizens, especially children and women in during the early morning attack, describing it as a crime against humanity which should not go unpunished.
“No religion preaches violence and killing of people without any judicial pronouncement,” it stated.
Continue reading here.

The body count from the perennial killing fields of Jos, Plateau State, does not matter anymore.
The number this time has been put at around 400. These were victims of the latest in the mindless slaughter of Nigerian citizens in Jos and some other parts of the Northern states by fellow Nigerians on grounds of ethnicity, religion or in the guise of seeking or protecting economic advantages and grazing grounds in predominantly farming communities.
This time, in what the authorities have dubbed a "reprisal" attack, scores of Christian and animist Berom, living in Dogo Nahawa village cluster in Jos were set upon in the early hours of Saturday and practically wiped out by suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
Apparently this organized murder was a diabolical attempt to even the score of last January's killings by those who felt most at loss. In fact, except for the number of casualties, events of last Saturday are all too familiar. The trajectories have all conformed to existing norm.
However, an added sickening twist to the recent Jos slaughters, (which began in the 1940s and 50s with murderous clashes between Igbo and Hausa-Fulani settlers over mineral mining rights) has been the deliberate targeting of the most vulnerable among target groups -- children, women, the aged and infirm -- who can hardly protect themselves.
Under international protocols and laws governing human behaviour in conflict situations, like the Geneva Convention, what the alleged Fulani herdsmen did in Jos South local government area, qualifies to be called "genocide." This may well be why the global community has risen in total condemnation of the latest Jos killings.

Continue reading here.

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dayo Bush-Alebiosu, has called on security agencies in the country to ensure that the perpetrators of the recent killings in Jos, the Plateau State capital, are made to face the full wrath of the law.
Bush-Alebiosu, who represents Kosofe Federal Constituency in Lagos, said it was high time security apparatus of the state rose to the occasionn and bring those who perpetrated the act to face the wrath of the law. Bush-Alebiosu, who was reacting to the recent killings in Dogo-Na-Hawa, Ratsat and Jeji villages in Foron district, Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, said the mayhem should be condemned in its entireties.
Bush-Alebiosu noted that unless those behind the dastardly act are nabbed and made to face the law, they won't stop at nothing in continuing with the endless mass killings of innocent souls. He pointed out that the latest killing was is the height of man's inhumanity to man as innocent children and women who even in an extreme war situation are spared, were massacred and maimed under primitive notions.
"We can't go on like this. Nigeria belongs to all of us and the situation where retaliatory attacks and vengeance missions are carried out must be rejected in its totality and the onus rests on our security agents to ensure that such attacks in the future are nipped in the bud through efficient intelligence monitoring and gathering.
"These recurring crises are fallouts of arrest and the parade of alleged suspects who are ultimately set free at the end of the day by the security agencies. The suspects must not only be tried, those who conspired to kill innocent and defenceless children and women must be tried and made to face the consequences of their dastardly actions.
Unless this is done, the Federal Government would be seen as paying lip service to the issue of security of lives of Nigerians whom they swore to protect under the country's constitution," Bush-Alebiosu said. The lawmaker also called on Nigerians to remain peaceful and law abiding, since violence only begets further violence, while also sympathising with those who lost relatives and friends in these attacks.

Despite buck-passing between the Plateau State government and the military over the attack on some villages in Jos South local government in Plateau State, it is obvious the military has been enmeshed in controversy since it took over the maintenance of law and order in Jos and environs.

From the onset, when the federal government asked the military to take over the security of Jos from the police, it was widely believed that the action was taken to satisfy certain sections of the society, which had accused the police of taking sides in the civil unrest in the state.

The power of the state governor, Jonah Jang, a retired Air Commodore, was seen as being eroded by the coming of the military by his supporters but hailed by others who felt he was not doing enough to satisfy all sections of the society.
Whether by omission or by intention, the action and inaction of the military and even the joint task force, which later took over the entire security system, has justified the position of a section of the society that the military was not meant to be an impartial umpire in the imbroglio.

The perception thus made various groups to call on the federal government to remove the military boys from the streets of Jos, so that they do not overstay their welcome.
Few days after the soldiers took over, it was widely reported that a man was shot in front of his house during the curfew hours in Tudun Wada, a Christian-dominated area.
In the same area, many more atrocities involving the clash between military and civilians have been reported. The latest being the open fire to disperse some civilians, who had reportedly arrested some soldiers in a vehicle with cows.
Continue reading here.

The Mai of Potiskum, Yobe State, Alhaji Umaru Bubarum, has said only traditional rulers who wield influence among their people and are constantly in contact with them could effectively end the lingering violent crisis in Jos, Plateau State.
Bubarum said, “traditional rulers know the source of every crisis in their locality, they also know every trouble maker in their locality and are aware of every move or plan on anything in their locality, so involving them in finding a lasting solution to the Jos crisis will be very important.
“For example, the Oba of Yoruba in Jos, the Sarkin Fulani in Jos, the Eze Igbo and leaders of every tribe or group of people that reside in Jos knows the very root of every person in his locality and can point to every source of trouble and how to solve such problem.”
The Mai, represented by his Special Assistant on Communication and Strategy, Alhaji Gidado Ibrahim, said these in Kaduna, while attending a meeting of northern traditional rulers on integration of Islamic and western education.
He said Plateau State Governor should invite every traditional ruler within the north, including traditional leaders of other Nigerian tribes living in Jos for a meeting that will bring lasting peace in the state.
“If the traditional leaders are told to go and honestly talk to their people to sheath their swords, peace will return to the state,” he said.
On the attempt by the traditional rulers to integrate western and Islamic education, the first class traditional chief said, “ensuring that the almajiris that roam all over the northern states are also exposed to western education will help in developing the youths and the northern states in general. It will also reduce the abuse that some of these children experience.”

We, members of the Christian Rights Forum, Nigeria, having listened to the  propaganda and  attacks by some members of the Muslim community in Northern Nigeria over the recent Jos sectarian violence, and indeed all sectarian crises in Nigeria, have found it expedient to issue this press statement in order to correct some of the misinformation, and expose the deliberate falsehood that has become the hallmark of the perpetrators of the terrorism unleashed on innocent Nigerians and non-Nigerians, especially in the northern part of the country. While we sympathise with the innocent Nigerians and non-Nigerians that lost their relations and property, we congratulate Governor Jonah Jang for his courage to promptly intervene and restore normalcy and peace despite all overt and covert attempts to frustrate his patriotic efforts. The attacks and incessant calls for his removal underscore the fact that the crises were premeditated and masterminded by forces beyond the state. The neglect of the cause, that is, the blockade of a road to a church and subsequent massacre of worshipers in it by some Islamic zealots, and the deliberate focus on the reprisals on the perpetrators of the barbaric massacre presuppose an orchestrated agenda on the Christians. Nigerian Christians should therefore be weary of the deceit that the persistent crises in Jos were between the indigenous Berom natives and Hausa settlers. If it were so, why were other non-muslim residents and their property as well as churches all over Jos and its environs attacked?  Moreover similar unprovoked sectarian violence by some of these Islamic zealots experienced in Langtang, Wase, Barkin-Ladi, etc, revealed the same tricks by the perpetrators of the genocide who always claim that it is against the natives of those areas, and yet the attacks were directed at churches and other Christian settlers of those areas.

We are also encouraged by the fatherly role played by the Acting President, Dr Jonathan Goodluck. The Vice President’s unbiased and prompt response to the crisis halted the army’s questionable deployments at the onset of the violence. This is a departure from the past. It would be recalled that during the preceding mayhem in 2008, the supposed mother of the nation, the First Lady, Mrs Turai Umaru Yar’adua visited only the muslim victims and gave them relief materials.

Continue reading here.

A MID calls for his removal, the military commander in charge of the Joint Operations in Plateau State yesterday defended his integrity.

Maj.-Gen. Saleh Maina, who is the General Officer Commanding 3 Armoured Division, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment, Jos, confirmed that he received several text messages and phone calls before the killings in Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Rassat villages.

But he disagreed with the state government that those text messages came from government officials.

"I want to make it categorically clear that no official from Plateau State Government called me or forwarded a text message to me. But they all have my numbers."

But Gen. Maina said he was deceived as the messages misdirected him," maybe deliberately".

Death woke them up on a Sunday morning. Holed up in their houses, the fire raged on their young heads. Marauders with machetes swishing in seasonal sacrifice, reddening the dusty earth of a rocky village. Parents on their sleeping mats swallow their cries with blood as unchained murderers harvested their children.

Many sleeps were murdered. The mouths of unsuspecting victims form the incomplete crescent of a grim sickle. Heads of children like the football they played, rolled on bedroom floors, asking innocent questions their parents can no longer answer.

Recurrent webs of invisible spiders have been cast over Jos, innocent children becoming the predator’s flies. In whose name are these massacres? Allah, Jehovah or Satan? An eye for an eye, the ring circle of blindness gathers god’s bits of wood in Jos for a bonfire. Read more here.

Touching letter by Mr. Sunday Dare... Funny, but it has been online since January, imagine!!!

"I no longer have sweet memories about Jos. No feeling of nostalgia. My excitement about my birthplace has fizzled out over the years. Infact, these days I dread any visits to Jos to see my siblings and childhood friends. The places I loved so much to visit in Jos no longer hold any attraction for me. From thousands of miles away in my place in America, I smell death each time I hear about Jos. I feel pained because the knives of the killers have struck home twice now and I have seen many, too many loved ones and innocent lives lost on the platter of religious fanaticism. The present religious crisis which began on Sunday has finally put paid to my romance with Jos and to a large extent led me to write off the Nigerian government as failed and criminal in many respects. A government unable to guaranty the safety of lives and property does not deserve to rule over us. Simplicita, it is an illegitimate government..." Read the rest of this letter here.

THE police said, yesterday, that 49 people are to be charged with murder after communal violence left scores of villagers dead. Most of those facing charges are Muslims from the Fulani group, police spokesman Mohammed Lerama told the BBC.

The Nigerian Army High Command, yesterday, hit back at Plateau State Governor Da Jonah Jang, over comments he made on Tuesday accusing the army of complicity in last Sunday's violence in three villages of Jos South local government which led to the death of about 500 people.It said it was not only embarrassing to the Army but also a display of naivety by an ex- military officer.

Explaining that the internal security operation in Jos, the Plateau State capital had since been converted to a joint military operation following incessant crises in the area, the Army expressed surprise that the governor spuriously decided to target the Army when the operation involved personnel of the Nigeria Army, Nigeria Navy, Nigeria Airforce and the Police.

Read more here and here.

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The House of Representatives has passed a resolution calling on the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) to re-deploy the 2010 Batch ‘A' corps members to neighbouring states, pending the restoration of peace in Plateau State. The House also urged the NYSC not to punish any corps member who has yet to report to the orientation camp in Plateau.

Already, 902 of the 1,202 corps members deployed to Plateau State for the Batch ‘A' 2010 service were on Thursday sworn-in at the Jos Temporary Orientation Camp. The Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, represented by the state chairman of the NYSC Governing Board, James Bakfur, assured the corps members of maximum security and peaceful service during their stay.

The House of Representative's resolution was sequel to a motion by Ekperikpe Ekpo (PDP Akwa Ibom), which was unanimously adopted by members when put to vote by Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.

Corps members serving in the state that was trapped in a recent mayhem, were evacuated and sent to their respective states of origin.