…Says, terrorists have been occupying schools in Barkin-Ladi for years now

Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has accused the Federal Government of “lack of political will” in dislodging terrorists on the Plateau.

This was as he said that terrorists have been occupying some schools in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of the state for about five years now.

The Governor said that t are ways of acquiring lands which must not be through violence, stressing that we must be able to resort to constitutionalism in dealing with the issues.

He said that information at his disposal indicated that the latest attacks have so far claimed over 115 lives with scores of others injured as well as hundreds of houses razed.

Mutfwang, who stated these when he featured on Channels Television’s programme ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Tuesday, stressed that the crisis on the Plateau has continued to escalate owing to the fact that no arrest has been made so far by security agencies.

The Governor specifically described the Christmas Eve simultaneous attacks by suspected Fulani militia on over 15 communities in the Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of the state as most unfortunate and expressed serious disappointment over the incident.

In the words of Muftawang; “We must stop this carnage. 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.

“I can tell you that these schools that are being occupied didn’t start now. Some of the schools have been occupied for the last three to five years. Children in those schools have had to relocate, and primary healthcare centres have been abandoned,” he said.

Muftawang said 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, saying; “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.

“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 will react, and we are going to have a large-scale conflict. I pray we don’t get to that point.

“Part of the problem we have is that, so far, there have been no arrests, no prosecution, and as far as we do not confront this issue headlong, some people 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 terrorize them because little or nothing was done to repel these attacks,” he said.