Governor Celeb Mutfwang of Plateau has revealed that no fewer than 64 communities have been displaced in the state due to terrorist activities.
He made this known during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday.
“Christmas was celebrated with heavy hearts,” Governor Mutfwang lamented, citing the recent attacks that targeted at least 17 communities.
He emphasized the severity of the situation, where terrorists have not only displaced communities but also occupied several schools in the region.
His words: “When people are dislocated from their villages, and they have to run for shelter, now we are struggling to provide shelter for these people that have been displaced and dislocated from their communities.
“If they stay away from those communities for a sustained period of time, the terrorists would come in. As I am talking to you today (Tuesday), in Riyom Local Government, in Barikin Ladi Local Government, schools have been occupied by these terrorists for almost a number of years now.
“We have not less than 64 communities that have been displaced, and their lands have been taken over by these terrorists.”
The Governor indicated that the ongoing crisis has been compounded by the perceived inaction during the previous administration, leading many residents to feel as though the terrorists had received tacit support from the government.
Furthermore, Governor Mutfwang drew attention to the prolonged occupation of schools, some for five years.
“Under the last regime, the feeling among people in Plateau State, particularly the victims of these terrorist attacks, is that it looks as if the terrorists were given official government backing to be able to terrorise them because little or nothing was done to repel these attacks.
“I can tell you these schools that are being occupied, it didn’t just start now; some of those schools have been occupied in the last three, four, five years.
“Children, therefore, in those schools have not been able to go to school; they have to relocate; we even have primary health care centres abandoned because of these terrorists, which means that our health care system is put in jeopardy; what do we need to do? I think this is where the president needs to come in,” he added.
