Jos killings: Community decries neglect of burial site

March 11, 2013 by Jude Owuamanam, Jos 2 Comments

The mass grave

Residents of Dogo Na Hawai in Jos South Local Government of Plateau state, where more than 500 people were killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen on March 7, 2010, have decried the neglect of the site where victims were given mass burial.

A monument was erected over the mass grave by a Christian group, The Voice of Christian Marty’s, but few months after, the roof was blown away.

More than 350 people were buried at the site.

Chairman of the Youth, Mr. Chuwang Pam, told our correspondent in an interview in Dogo Na Hawa on Sunday that the local government, which promised to take care of the site, has neglected the monument.

He said all representations to the government to rebuild the site had been rebuffed.

“This monument was built by The Voice of Christian Martyrs about two years ago and some few months after, it was blown away by heavy winds and since then the place has been left desolate. We have made representations to the local government that promised to take care of the place, but to no avail.

“We have just celebrated the third anniversary of that unfortunate incident, but the dead are not resting in peace because their resting place is in ruins.”

He said that though the community was still trying to forget that incident, the poor state of the site still reminded them of the ugly incident.

Pam appealed to the government to rebuild the monument and give the dead a pride of place to rest in peace.

Our correspondent, who visited the burial site, noted that the roof of the building and top planks were lying all over the place, while the names of the victims have been wiped away by the rains.