Plateau State youth activist, Joseph Gyang, has called on Governor Caleb Mutfwang to publicly identify those responsible for the ongoing killings in the state, rather than concealing their identities.
Gyang, who threw the challenge while speaking at an event organized by the state Directorate of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on Tuesday, tasked the governor to be courageous and name the assailants since he seems to know them, going by his recent utterances.
At the event, which was a nationwide campaign on the Pathway to National Cohesion, Development and Unity with the theme: Combating Insurgency, Banditry, Youth Restiveness and Herders/Farmers Conflicts, Gyang referenced comments made by Mutfwang following repeated attacks on communities in the state, where hundreds of natives have been killed by militia gangs.
In April, following an attack in Bokkos LGA where over 150 were killed, Gov. Mutfwang had referred to the killers as unknown gunmen while accusing both the natives and attackers as criminals who engage in cattle rustling and other criminal activities.
Again on Sunday, June 29, the governor had accused unnamed elites as being behind insecurity in the state.
While speaking at the event, Gyang said Mutfwang should hit the nail on the head by naming the criminals as well as the elites who are fueling insecurity in the state.
“I want to use this opportunity to challenge Governor Caleb Mutfwang to be courageous enough to name the perpetrators of the mass killings and attacks that have been going on in Plateau State,” Gyang said.
“Over the years, successive governments and security operatives have continued to tag the attackers as either unknown gunmen, terrorists, and bandits. But everyone in the state knows, we all know the attackers, but the government has refused to call them for who they are.
“Gov. Mutfwang has told us that elites are behind the insecurity in the state. Now can he do us a favour by naming these elites as well as unmasking the unknown gunmen?
“It will be a mark of honour on His Excellency to name these perpetrators so that security operatives can go after them,” he stated.
