Plateau State Governor-elect Caleb Mutfwang says foreign mercenaries are behind attacks in the state.
Recently, over 20 persons were killed in the North Central State, prompting the imposition of a curfew in two communities of Fungzai and neighbouring Kubat in the newly created district of Bwai in the Mangu Local Government Area.
But the governor, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today, blamed foreign mercenaries for the incident and the incessant attacks in the state.
While admitting he is not in the best position to speak about the crisis since he is yet to be sworn in, Mutfwang said “I can assure you that these people are brought in from outside those communities”.
When asked if they are Nigerians, he said, “I don’t have exact details to give you at the moment. But all the years down the line, a lot of their identities have been revealed that these are not Nigerians and they have been brought in as foreign mercenaries”.
According to him, these mercenaries are being sponsored but he does not know those behind it.
“The purpose of those who perpetrate the attack may just be because they are hirelings. I want to ask: who is the person that is sponsoring them? Who is instigating them? What is his aim?
“Sometimes, it is difficult to disabuse your mind that this is not about land grabbing. The communities that have been displaced by now, it is not as if they are vacant. Some people are occupying them,” he argued.
Trimmed Appetite
He does not also rule out the demarketing of the state as part of the reasons for the attacks in the North-Central State.
“We think it has a lot to do with land grabbing. It has a lot to do with demarketing of the state because I can tell you that the security situation in the Plateau is not the worst in the north,” the newly-elected governor said. “But there has been a lot of demarketing of the Plateau.”
The governor-elect also promised to work for the people, maintaining he won’t loot the state’s resources.
“My appetite for greed has been trimmed and I can assure you that I am not going there for stealing,” Mutfwang added. “I am only going there to make sure that Plateau works.”