The chairman of the fact-finding committee on killings in Plateau, Nicholas Rogers says 11,749 people have died between 2001 and 2025 in the state due to various violent attacks.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, ‘Sunrise Daily’, on Friday, Rogers said the committee presented its report to Caleb Mutfwang, governor of Plateau, on Thursday.
He said 420 communities in 13 LGAs of the state were affected by violent attacks in the last four years, noting that the incidents included herder-farmer clashes, inter-communal attacks and ethno-religious crises.
‘It is very sad that things like this happen in our own country, and people don’t even care about this state’, Rogers said.
‘It is not only in Plateau but across states where there are violence and a series of killings, and I tell you that these figures that I gave you are only the recorded figures. I am very sure that the figure is more than this’.
He described the report as ‘very holistic’, noting that full implementation of its recommendations will help stem the tide of violence in the state.
‘The report is actually very comprehensive. It will be the political will of the governor and the people of Plateau to implement the report that has been submitted to them’, he said.
‘If they do that honestly and sincerely, it will go a long way to providing the needed peace and enabling environment in Plateau’.
Rogers added that there is a need for the country to develop a conflict management mechanism to forestall future occurrences, noting that there is a need to reposition the security agencies, especially the military, towards providing the needed security of lives and property.
‘There is always the issue of security lapses here and there, but you must prepare your military to be able to tackle such’, he added.
‘I hear people say there is a war against insecurity, and I say ‘no’, because if war is declared, the element of state power will come into play’, he argued.
He also noted that only a kinetic approach is enough to solve the country’s growing security challenges, calling for proper leadership across the subnational to national levels.
‘Something has to be done to stop these incessant killings; otherwise, we’d wake up one day and see that there is no longer something like Nigeria’, he added.
‘There must be federal intervention in Plateau if we are going to make progress in providing succour to the various communities that have been destroyed and rebuild confidence in the people.
‘The state government should perform surgery on some of its laws to incriminate cattle rustling, illegal mining, and destruction of farmlands, without the option of a fine’.
He advised the state government to liaise with the federal government to provide more troops in the state, especially around Bokkus and Mangu LGAs, which are prone to attacks due to the large amount of forest around them.
Rogers said the establishment of ranches across various senatorial zones of the state and the provision of technology and logistics for the security agencies to do their job would also help to reduce the spate of violent attacks.
