Bandits have taken over 64 localities in Plateau, says Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
The most recent murders in Bokkos LGA, he continued, are “sponsored and genocidal.”
On April 4, the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC) said that more than ten individuals had been slain by suspected bandits; subsequently, the number had increased to 52.
Seven days prior, when mourners gathered at the deceased’s home, several gunmen had assaulted the Ruwi hamlet in Bokkos LGA.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Mutfwang blamed unnamed terrorist groups for the carnage, alleging that the attacks were sponsored by yet-to-be-identified individuals.
“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.
“We must come to the point where we know the sponsors because it is not just the work of ordinary people. This is being sponsored from somewhere.
“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.”
‘BANDITS HAVE TAKEN OVER 64 COMMUNITIES’
According to the Plateau governor, who denounced the ceaseless attacks, bandits have displaced residents in the state by occupying 64 settlements spread over Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom LGAs.
“If these attacks have been going on for close to 10 years, it tells you that there is a deliberate, conscious attempt to clean out populations and to reopen,” he added.
“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.
“They have been taken over, renamed, and people are living there conveniently on lands they pushed people away to occupy.”
The assaults are the most recent in a string of attacks on Plateau, which has previously documented such occurrences.
Following gunman assaults on villages in the state’s Bokkos and Barkin Ladi LGAs on the eve of Christmas in 2023, more than 115 people were officially declared dead.
At least 12 persons were murdered by gunmen in Tilengpat community in Pushit district in Mangu LGA of Plateau on April 18, 2024.
Days before, gunmen killed at least 10 residents of Mandar Shar and Kopnanle villages under Mangu and Bokkos LGAs.
Several villagers were injured, with the attackers destroying a slew of properties.
