Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has pledged to implement the recommendations of the Fact-Finding Committee on Incessant Attacks, Killings and Destruction in the state.
The governor gave the assurance on Thursday while hosting members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors at the Rayfield Government House in Jos.
The PUNCH reports that Mutfwang had, in May 2025, inaugurated a 10-member panel to unravel the causes of the incessant violence in Plateau and determine the number of affected communities and victims since 2001.
Submitting its report on Wednesday, the committee disclosed that no fewer than 420 communities across 13 local government areas had been attacked between 2001 and 2025, with more than 11,749 people killed.
The chairman of the committee, retired Major General Nicholas Rogers, said the findings were based on weeks of consultations with communities, security agencies and reviews of documented evidence.
Rogers said, ‘After weeks of painstaking work, engaging affected communities, liaising with security agencies and reviewing evidence submitted to us, we arrived at sobering findings. We established that 420 communities across 13 LGAs have suffered violent attacks between 2001 and May 2025.
‘The human cost has been staggering, with 11,749 lives reported lost within the period. These figures represent only those officially reported to us; we believe the actual number may be higher.
Beyond the loss of lives, we documented widespread destruction of livelihoods’.
Responding, Mutfwang acknowledged the security challenges confronting Plateau, including illegal mining and land grabbing. He assured that the committee’s report would be acted upon.
He said, ‘On the fact-finding committee on the insecurity in the state, which just submitted its report, I can assure you it will not gather dust. We will implement the report, and we’re also planning to even serialise some of the findings by God’s grace.
‘One thing certainly is that I will forward the report to Mr President. I’ll forward it to the heads of security agencies so that at least we can begin to talk the same language and be on the same page’.
Earlier, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Eze Anaba, commended the governor for his peace initiatives and the progress recorded in Plateau despite its security challenges. He urged him to sustain efforts to end bloodshed in the state.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Special Ad-hoc Committee on the Plateau Crisis on Thursday paid a courtesy visit to former governor Joshua Dariye at his residence in Abuja as part of preparations for stakeholders’ engagements on lasting peace.
The House had, on 31 March 2024, set up the panel to probe the remote and immediate causes of the perennial violence in the North-Central state. The resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance jointly sponsored by Ishaya Lalu and Dalyop Chollom, at a plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Speaking with journalists after the Abuja visit, the Chairman of the Committee and member representing Agege Federal Constituency, Lagos State, Wale Ahmed, said the intervention was aimed at providing a platform for dialogue.
He said, ‘The security situation, the killings, and violence in Plateau require us to bring all stakeholders together to have a special dialogue. At the end of the day, we will provide a platform for all concerned to come and openly ventilate their feelings and the root causes of the whole thing.
‘This way, we will be able to proffer solutions to the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, who is equally concerned about the situation. Her Excellency, our dear First Lady, is also very concerned as the mother of the nation. As a matter of fact, I am aware that, on about two or three occasions, she had gone there (Plateau) physically and made monetary donations to cushion the effects of some of the occurrences there.
‘This is to demonstrate to the country and the whole world that Plateau people are Nigerian people and we’re all concerned. So, I want to take this opportunity to also commend the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’.
According to him, the committee has already advertised for memoranda in national dailies and broadcast stations to receive inputs from citizens.
On his part, Dariye lauded the lawmakers for their intervention, describing the crisis as complex and deep-rooted.
He said, ‘This topic is germane because it touches the life and the core existence of our people. But it’s a very long topic. Spanning from my time, it has changed from the hitherto misunderstood relationship between communal places to a bigger dimension. We can’t define it.
‘There were crises in Shendam; there were in Wase and parts of Langtang South between the Tarok and the Fulani on land matters, and we tried to mediate’.
He called on all stakeholders to work together to end the violence and restore peace to Plateau.
