Governors from the North-Central area paid a visit to Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang on Tuesday, only days after the devastating attacks that took over 190 lives.
Governors in attendance included Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), and Umaru Bago (Niger). Governors Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq (Kwara) were both missing for unknown reasons.
They contributed N100 million on behalf of the region’s governors during their visit to the Plateau State Government House.
Plateau has been experiencing a series of attacks by non-state actors, locally called bandits, who kill people at will without being challenged by security agencies.
While the state is yet to recover from the death of several people in the Christmas Eve attacks on Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi local government areas of the state, the assailants struck again on December 31, killing two persons – a father and his son.
The attacks prompted the visit of the service chiefs as well as the Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle and his Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation counterpart Betta Edu.
‘Barbaric’
President Bola Tinubu joined a list of dignitaries to condemn the attack. In condemning the violence, Mutfwang described the incident as “barbaric, brutal, and unjustified”.
“Proactive measures will be taken by the government to curb ongoing attacks against innocent civilians,” said Gyang Bere, the governor’s spokesperson.
Amnesty International criticised the government in the wake of the attacks, saying “the Nigerian authorities have been failing to end frequent deadly attacks on rural communities of Plateau state,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
North-West and central Nigeria have been long terrorised by bandit militias operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.
Competition for natural resources between nomadic herders and farmers, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has also exacerbated social tensions and sparked violence.
A jihadist conflict has raged in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing around two million, as Boko Haram battles for supremacy with rivals linked to the Islamic State group.
Tinubu, a former Lagos governor elected in February in a highly contested ballot, has promised to attract more investment to Africa’s largest economy and most populous country in a bid to tackle its persistent security challenges.