The Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has said that the recent renewed attacks in some communities in the state is nothing but genocide, since according to him, it was a deliberate and orchestrated plans to wipe a number of people from the state.
He stated this when he appeared on a television programme on Thursday. He disagreed with those who see what is happening in the state as farmers/herders clash, stressing that apart from the criminality that is involved, it also has political undertones.
He spoke extensively about the recent attacks in some parts of the state, the closure of Mangu Local Government Secretariat by the state Commissioner of Police, and the attempts to shut down the state House of Assembly among other burning issues in the state.
This is an opportunity for me to put things in proper perspectives. Let me say that about a month before my inauguration as governor, things began to escalate, and right after my inauguration, things have deteriorated to a large extent. When you look at the development, you would notice that the epicentre of this renewed insurgency is concentrated in the local government area where I come from and where my deputy comes from. So, you begin to ask whether it is a response to our emergence as governor and deputy because that is the interpretation that people are giving to it. But whatever it is, a lot of criminality has come into play. What we are seeing is clear genocide; a deliberate and orchestrated plans to wipe out a number of people. I want to thank the security forces because to a large extent, they have done a lot. But, I want to say that they can still do a lot more.
With the right kind of empathy and mobilization, I believe that the security agencies can do a lot better. Of course, the traditional belief is that there have been herders/farmers clashes, but that is not the reality. A situation where people are sleeping in their homes and they are attacked cannot be said to be farmers/herders clash; therefore, the questions to be asked are: Who are the people behind these attacks? Where are they coming from? Who sent them? Who are the real leaders behind these insurgencies? There is a lot of intelligence that is coming up which we are putting at the disposal of the security agencies, and we are confident that with the new change of guard in the security arrangement of the country, we would be able to get some mileage in putting this ugly phase behind us.
