Mandong Jalang is a photographer and a bakery consultant in Jos. His family members were victims of the Christmas Eve attack in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State. In this interview by KANGMWA GOFWEN, he shares how he was affected and the response of the government and security agents to the continuous attacks.
How did the attack happen and where were you?
I was not in the village when the attack happened, but from what I gathered, they first attacked villages neighbouring ours and then they advanced to my village around 8p.m. where they killed 18 people.
What was the response of the security agents? Were they informed when the attack was going on?
They did not respond in time. They were informed even before the attack happened, but they did not show up until four hours after the attack. There is a border village between Barkin-Ladi and Bokkos Local Government called Tanti. It’s about 10 minutes’ drive to my village and there are soldiers stationed in that village. The residents there informed them of what was going on but they never showed up. So, if you look at the whole thing, you begin to wonder if the security agents have a hand in all that is happening, or why would they not respond to a situation like that? They were informed about 6p.m. but they didn’t show up till about 11p.m. when the attackers had gone. My village is not far from the road and soldiers are stationed in Tudun Mazat, a community before my village when you’re coming from Barkin-Ladi. There are also soldiers in Kuba. All these communities I mentioned are not far from my village; they are about a kilometer away. There is also a community after my village that has two military checkpoints. So, soldiers are in almost all the communities surrounding my village and they have bikes and vans but none responded when the attack was on and the damage was being done.
How many of your relatives were victims in the attack?
My father, David Jalang, was killed. Four of my cousins, Emmanuel Jalang, Fidelis Jalang, Gaius Adamu and Matawal Gaius, were all killed. On my mother’s side, three of her brothers, Solomon Langwen, Mafulul Langwen, Nafor Makut and Maren Masok, were killed. Her uncle’s wife, Mildred Makut, was also killed. So, out of the 18 people that were killed during the attack in my village, 10 were related to me. Thankfully, my mother fled the village in the evening when the attackers were in the neighbouring village. She left the village with only what she was wearing. That was how she survived. She has not been finding it easy but we thank God. Apart from the loss of lives, all our property was burnt to the ground. We were not left with a pin.
What can you say about the repeated attacks and government’s response?
It is not like the government doesn’t know the people that are perpetrating this evil. It is not like they don’t know where these people are, but everything boils down to politics. Nobody wants to do anything other than speak English condemning the attacks. Nobody is doing anything about the situation. Nobody is acting; they just keep giving assurances that they would ‘bring the perpetrators to book’. At the end of the day, no one is brought to book. Even the few ones that were arrested, you later see them walking free on the streets.
So, when it comes to government, it is just empty promises. After every attack, they come out to ‘condemn the attack in strong terms’. What does that even mean? As far as I am concerned, until the government becomes sincere and begins to fight this insecurity with action, we will never take them seriously. Nothing they have said so far has really meant anything to me.
As of January 1, 2024, there was no presence of security agents in my village despite the attack. Even on the day of burial, December 26, 2023, there were no security operatives except for a few local vigilantes. So, we are just looking at the government and the security agents, they know what is going on and the people behind it, but for whatever reasons, they don’t want to unveil them or make arrest. There was also something about the attack. The attackers were particular about the men because they killed mostly men. If they wanted to kill the women, they would have, because when they got to some houses, they told the women to go out before setting such houses on fire. So, they knew what they came for. They went after the men.
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