#EndSARS: Plateau council chairman still counting loses of vandalised secretariat

Gyang Bere, Jos

The Management Committee Chairman of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, Hon Mafeng Gwallson has set up a technical committee to recount losses and level of destruction of properties at the local government Secretariat by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protests in the state.

The committee which was given one week to submit it report was asked to review the cost of property destroyed and those recovered from the hoodlums.

Hon Mafeng, who briefed Journalists on Wednesday at the Council Secretariat after reviewing the extent of damage, said the looting and vandalism have cost set back in the council area.

“You can see for yourself that the local government Secretariat is in shambles, the hoodlums came and destroyed all the sensitive and non-sensitive documents and carted away with the whole files and other valuable items in other Federal government agencies.

“The hoodlums wreck a lot of havoc on anything that was on-site at the Local government Secretariat. When we came in on Sunday afternoon, what we saw on site was very pitiable and horrifying because it was beyond the issue of #EndSARS but criminality and people who have an agenda and a statement to make.

“We have set up a committee to assess the cost of damage and for now, we have not finished valuing the cost of the damage but when I came in, there was no office that they didn’t vandalise.

“Over 60 offices with documents, computers and furniture were all vandalised. We have the staff quarters block, the residence of the Civil Defense, Immigration office, Acha research institute, Home Economic office and other federal agencies were all vandalised.

“We have people whose personal belongings were destroyed and carted away, we have not been able to quantify exactly what they lost but the committee is assessing the lost at the local government Secretariat to know the value and what has been recovered.”

He noted that it will take the Committee one week to be able to come up with the cost of items destroyed and vandalism by the hoodlums.

“We were able to work with the community leaders and work with the conventional and non-conventional security apparatus we have within and they have been effective in helping us recover some of the looted items.

“It started that fateful Sunday because when people came to the scene, they went after those who came to destroyed the local government and in the process of running, they left some of those items and five of their vehicles.”