News Editor
By David Odama
Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang of plateau state has vowed to implement the recommendations of the fact finding committee constituted to investigate the increasing and endless attacks in the state.
Gov. Mutsfang said the implementation of the report would be part of efforts to halt decades of orchestrated attacks that have claimed innocent lives in rural communities of Plateau State,
Governor Mutfwang in a statement by the Director of press and public Affairs, Dr Gyang Bere, said receiving the report of the High-Powered Fact- Finding Committee on the incessant Attacks, killings and destruction of Plateau communities marks a turning point in the history of plateau state, pledging to implement the recommendations to the fullest.
Receiving the report at the Twin Theater, Government House, Rayfield, Jos, the governor, expressed readiness to present the report to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and and security experts to enable them have an insight and true story behind the one and half decades of violence in the state for a durable solution.
The governor who questioned the integrity of some individuals, leaders, with their public statements unfortunately showing that they do not have the people at heart, reiterated the call to sons and daughters of Plateau State, who God has blessed with positions of honour, to rise in defence of Plateau heritage and work toward its overall development.
“Receiving this important report is a journey towards peace and putting into proper perspectives the true nature of the violent attacks that have plagued Plateau in the last two and half decades.
“When I took over and began to tell the story of what was happening on the Plateau, I was called names. Therefore, I sat down and told myself that for us to convince the authorities and Nigerians with the truth about the nature of crisis in Plateau, we need men and women of proven integrity who will gather, analyse and bring into the public space what has been happening in the last two and half decades,” Mutfwang explained.
He reiterated the commitment of his administration to peace, justice and fairness, marked by transparency and commitment to be accountable to the people, while ensuring that no individual will be above the law.
While noting that it is only when the issues are confronted headlong, that the truth and nothing but the truth, would be revealed because it is only the truth that can set people out, he deeply appreciated the members of the committee, who are not indigenes of Plateau, except the secretary, for painstakingly carrying out the rigorous exercise, and declared that his administration was delighted that sacrificed so much to get at the truth.
He assured them that the report would be implemented fairly and justly, for the sake of justice for all.
Governor Mutfwang said he had begun to put in place modality for the recruitment 1000 competent and trustworthy youths from various communities in the state into Operations Rainbow to provide early warning intelligence for swift response to distress calls from rural communities in the state.
Chairman of the Committee, Major General Rogers Ibe Nicholas, said the community met with various ethnic nationalities and interest groups and visited all the troubled and violence-hit communities to get first hand information about the violence and how to provide enduring peace in Plateau.
On who are the perpetrators of the violent attacks, Gen. Rogers said, “communities consistently identified armed Fulani militias and and herder groups, often from across Nasarawa, Kaduna, Bauchi and Taraba States, as key aggressors.
In other Local Government Areas, particularly in Shendam and Quan’pan, local disputes involving boundary disputes, ethnic rivalries, political competition, and youth militias also contributed to violence.
“The committee received a report of disturbances by bandits who are said to have established their cells in two Nasarawa state villages bordering Quan’pan and forcing Plateau communities in Quan’pan to flee.
“In Wase and Kanam, the presence of bandits’ cells with suspected links to extremist organizations was reported. The motives driving these attacks are multiple, ranging from control of land and resources, to territorial expansion, ethno-religious dominance, political destabilization, and outright criminal profiteering through kidnap-for-ransom and cattle rustling.”
Tracing the routes of infiltration, he said: “These porous borders include entry points from Nasarawa through Wamba, Lafia, and Awe; from Kaduna through Lere, Kaura, and Sanga; from Bauchi through Toro, Tafawa Balewa, Bagoro, and Alkaleri; and from Taraba through Ibi and Karim Lamido. These routes are largely unmonitored and exploited by attackers for quick strikes and retreats,” he stated.
He noted that with 420 communities attacked and nearly 12,000 lives lost, Plateau State cannot afford to treat such atrocities as business as usual, noting that the violence in the state are coordinated, the motives deliberate, and the sequences devastating.
