Governor Mutfwang
By Raymond Gukas, Jos
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has declared a long week mourning in memory of the several lives that has been lost, people displaced and properties lost as.a result of the coordinated attacks on some villages in the wake of Christmas.
This, he said in a new year message, adding during the period which commences from 1 to January 8, 2024, “flags will fly at half-mast”
The governor “urge all citizens to use these days for intense prayers to seek the intervention of the Almighty God in defending our territories and against wicked men that have risen against us. I wish to plead with our Muslim clerics to dedicate Friday January 5th, 2024 and our Christian Clergy to use Sunday January 7th, 2024 as special prayer days for lasting peace to return to the Plateau, while Monday 8th January, 2024 will be observed as our official state day of mourning.”
He then assuered the people of the state that a day shall come when Plateau will be a destination of choice to visitors around the world.
Sounding optimistic that his prayer for the state was real, he said “if Rwanda has become peaceful and a country of choice destination in Africa after many years of Internal wars and crises” nothing will stop the state, by God’s grace.
“Plateau shall be a choice destination not just in Nigeria or Africa, but in the world. We are blessed with clement weather; abundant natural and human resources and our people are hospitable”.
According to him, “these unprovoked and simultaneous attacks in different villages were clearly premeditated and coordinated. These series of attacks on our people are a clear case of criminality, insurgency and terrorism and must be seen and handled in that manner if we must succeed in halting this wanton destruction of lives and property.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is a misrepresentation of facts to describe these needless and unprovoked attacks on our people as a Farmer-Herder clash as has always been the traditional narrative. Let us call a spade a spade, this is simple genocide!”, he fumed.
He however commended the spirit of the Plateau people sating “it is gratifying that despite these onslaughts, our spirits are not broken. Our resolve to defend our land and prosper therein has remained unshakeable. I am therefore confident that 2024 will reveal our inner strength and resilience in the face of these tribulations
“As a government, we have taken proactive steps to protect our communities and rehabilitate those who survived the gruesome attacks.
“Let me reaffirm that as we begin the New Year, my administration will continually collaborate with the Federal Government to halt these unprovoked attacks on our people. It is my heart cry that the many years of misery, despair and pains our people have had to go through ended in 2023”, he stressed.
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