Plateau State governor, Barr Caleb Mutfwang, has received the report of the Fact-finding Committee on Incessant Attacks, Killings and Destruction of Communities, with a pledge to implement the recommendations.
Mutfwang, who received the report at the Twin Theatre, Government House, Rayfield, Jos, expressed readiness to present it to President Bola Tinubu and security experts to enable them to have an insight and true story behind the one and a half decades of violence in the state for a durable solution.
He questioned the integrity of some individuals who called themselves leaders. Unfortunately, their public statements showed they did not have the people’s best interests at heart.
He 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 critical report is a journey towards peace and putting into proper perspective the true nature of the violent attacks that have plagued Plateau in the last two and a 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 the 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 a half decades,” Mutfwang explained.
He reiterated his administration’s commitment to peace, justice, and fairness, marked by transparency and a commitment to being accountable to the people while ensuring that no individual will be above the law.
Mutfwang also noted that it is only when the issues are confronted headlong that the truth—and nothing but the truth—will be revealed because it is only the truth that can set people free.
He deeply appreciated the members of the committee, except the secretary, who are not indigenes of Plateau, for painstakingly carrying out the rigorous exercise and declared that his administration was delighted that they sacrificed so much to get to the truth.
The governor assured them that the report would be implemented fairly and justly, ensuring justice for all.
Mutfwang said he had begun to implement a modality for recruiting 1,000 competent and trustworthy youths from various communities in the state into Operations Rainbow, which provides early warning intelligence for swift response to distress calls from rural communities in the state.
Meanwhile, the 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 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 organisations was reported. The motives driving these attacks are multiple, ranging from control of land and resources, to territorial expansion, ethno-religious dominance, political destabilisation, 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 is coordinated, the motives deliberate, and the sequences devastating.
