Governor Caleb Mutfwang has criticised what he described as the “lack of political will” by the Federal Government to flush out marauding terrorists on the Plateau, saying that insurgents have been occupying schools in the Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of the state for five years without being dislodged.
Mutfwang, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday, said the crisis on the Plateau has continued to escalate because no arrest has been made so far by security agents.
A grieving Mutfwang described as “unprovoked”, Christmas Eve simultaneous attacks by assailants on over 15 communities in the Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of the state. The latest attacks have so far claimed over 115 lives with scores of others injured and hundreds of houses torched.
“We must stop this carnage,” the governor said matter-of-factly, adding that security agents “cannot continue with this reactionary strategy but be proactive”.
“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,” he added.
The governor further noted that he would approach President Bola Tinubu to give clear instructions to security agents to protect the people on the Plateau against their land-grabbing attackers.
He said, “I will be talking to Mr President on this. We need to summon the political will to give instructions to security agencies to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and even the internal integrity of our land boundaries.”
