Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has condemned the federal government’s lack of “political will” to tackle terrorists who have been occupying schools in the Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area for five years.
Mutfwang’s remarks follow a series of Christmas Eve attacks in the Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas that claimed over 115 lives and displaced hundreds.
The governor, during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, described the attacks as “unprovoked” and slammed security agencies for their “reactionary strategy” instead of proactive measures.
“As I am talking to you today, in Barkin-Ladi Local Government, schools have been occupied by these terrorists for some years now. Not less than 64 communities have been displaced and the lands have been taken over by these marauding terrorists,” Mutfwang disclosed.
He added some schools in Barkin-Ladi have been occupied by terrorists for five years, children in those schools have had to relocate, and primary healthcare centres have also been abandoned.
The governor also pointed to the lack of arrests and prosecutions as a contributing factor to the ongoing crisis, noting that some citizens of the states feel their attackers are being protected.
“Under the last regime, the feeling of the people in Plateau State, particularly the victims of these terrorist attacks, is that, it looks as if the terrorists were given official government backing to be able to terrorise them because little or nothing was done to repel these attacks,” Mutfwang added.
The governor further noted that he would approach President Bola Tinubu to summon the political will to give instructions to security agencies to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and even the internal integrity of land boundaries.
Governor Mutfwang also stressed the importance of lawful land acquisition, urging those seeking land on the Plateau to engage in negotiation and settlement with communities.
“There are ways of acquiring land, not through violence and we must be able to resort to constitutionalism in dealing with these issues.
“People who want land on the Plateau are free to approach the communities, negotiate and settle in those communities. I don’t think people will refuse but where they resort to violence to take over those lands, you will be sure that this is a time bomb because it will reach a time when people react, and we are going to have a large-scale conflict. I pray we don’t get to that point.”
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