(SINL NIGERIA) Governor Caleb Muftwang of plateau state has alleged that armed bandits have seized control of at least 64 villages in the state.
The governor also described the recent wave of violence across the state as a sponsored genocide aimed at wiping out entire communities.
He emphasized the need for cohesive action among security agencies to identify and dismantle the networks behind the violence.
Muftwang spoke on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on Tuesday.
He bemoaned the sustained attacks that have claimed over 50 lives and displaced thousands in the Bokkos Local Government Area and beyond.
He said “This is being sponsored from somewhere, and I am sure that in the coming days, the security agencies will work together, not at cross purposes but in unison to be able to bring out the requisite intelligence that will help us to put this matter behind us.
“I can tell you in all honesty that I cannot find any explanation other than genocide sponsored by terrorists,” the governor said.
“The question is, who are the persons behind the organisers of this terrorism? This is what the security agencies must help us to unravel”
It would be recalled that there is renewed surge of deadly attacks in Plateau State, particularly in Bokkos LGA, where several communities have been razed in what locals and authorities are calling targeted assaults.
Governor Muftwang also disclosed that armed groups have forcibly taken over and renamed dozens of communities, with residents displaced and unable to return to their ancestral lands.
“As I am talking to you, there are not less than 64 communities that have been taken over by bandits on the Plateau between Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom local government areas,” he said.
“They have been taken over, renamed, and people are living there conveniently on lands they pushed people away to occupy” he added.
