From Jude Dangwam, Jos
The National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC) has restored hope to the attacked Plateau community of Kakuruk and the entire Gashish District of Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of the Plateau State and its environs with a new mobile police base as part of the intervention of the commission to HYPADEC communities housing power dams in the country.
Gashish District of Barkin-Ladi is known for hosting one of the earliest power dams in Nigeria, the Kura Falls power plant, established in 1928, and has over decades become a tourist destination to tourists. It is also famous for tin mining activities.
The managing director of the National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, during the launch, disclosed that the project was born out of the need assessment carried out for intervention by the commission to its host communities. Among its key mandates is to serve host communities and also attend to environmental issues associated with the presence of dams and power plants in the country.
Yelwa said: “This project exemplifies our dedication to serving local communities and promoting peace and security through tangible actions. The Barkin-Ladi area has faced numerous inter and intra-communal conflicts, underscoring the need for enhanced police presence and infrastructure to address security challenges effectively.
“Our mission to remodel and reconstruct the police barracks in Kakuruk was born out of a genuine concern for the wellbeing and operational efficiency of our dedicated police officers serving in this region.”
Yelwa further gave insights on the project, saying: “Following a comprehensive needs assessment exercise conducted by the Federal Government, through N-HYPPADEC, the deplorable condition of the police barracks in Barkin-Ladi was distressingly evident.
“It became imperative to renovate and upgrade the barracks to provide a conducive living and working environment for our law enforcement officers, in order to enable them to carry out their duties effectively and ensure the safety of the community.
“Over several months of dedicated effort, we have successfully transformed the facilities at the mobile police barracks. A three-bedroom bungalow now serves as the police administrative block, while a block of five bedrooms and parlour has been converted into the commandant’s residence.”
The MD reiterated that a block of eight rooms with parlour and kitchen was revamped into the police multipurpose hall and five blocks of 11 small size shops now function as police officers’ offices and armoury. While three blocks of three classrooms have been repurposed into police senior officers’ quarters. In addition to these structural improvements at the mobile police base, new buildings and sites have been developed, which include junior police quarters, a quarter guard, a parade ground, four security watchtowers and essential water drainage systems.
This is aside from the transformer and electrification works, borehole and water reticulation constructed to promote sustainability and operational efficiency within the mobile police base. Yelwa disclosed that the total cost of the transformative project stands at N469,246,455.80, which he said reflects the federal government’s commitment to enhancing security infrastructure and ensuring the wellbeing of police officers and the community.
Aside from hosting a power plant, Gashish District of Barkin-Ladi is known for its huge agricultural potential and large mineral deposits, which have attracted unwanted visitors, dishing out various ideologies, leading to attacks on the communities of Gashish from 2012 and it became massive in 2018.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, represented by Mr. Simon Tyongo, during the inauguration of the project, commended N-HYPPADEC for stepping in with the project, which he said will end the years of unrest that Barkin-Ladi has been known for and restore peace to the area.
He said: “In recent times, Nigeria has faced a multitude of security challenges that have posed significant threats to the peace and stability of our nation. The resilience and commitment of our security forces, particularly the military and the police, have been instrumental in addressing these challenges and safeguarding the wellbeing of our citizens.
“The renovation of this mobile police base in Kakuruk is a proactive step taken by the government to enhance the operational efficiency of our police force and reinforce security measures in these areas that require urgent attention.
“Barkin-Ladi, unfortunately, has been known for security challenges and communal conflicts, with the unfortunate events of August 2023 in Heipang still fresh in our memories.”
Akume maintained that lack of adequate security infrastructure in the area has, over the years, exacerbated the security situation. While underscoring the urgent need for interventions such as the one being commissioned through the diligent efforts of N-HYPPADEC.
The SGF maintained that the mobile police base has undergone a remarkable transformation, not only in terms of physical infrastructure but also in terms of functionality and efficiency to served the host community and its environs but restoring mutual trust and understanding among the warring communities.
He reiterated that, indeed, through a harmonious working relationship between the federal and state governments, it “is vital to how we could be able to achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth for the benefit of Nigerians.
“The completion of this project is not merely about the physical structures we see before us today, it also symbolises a beacon of hope for the Kakuruk community, boosting their confidence in terms of safety and security in their surroundings.
“With these newly established facilities, our police officers will be better equipped to uphold law and order and foster a conducive environment for the residents of Kakuruk to live, work and thrive in peace.”
Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang of Plateau State, represented by the secretary to the state government, Arc. Samuel Jatau, appealed for stronger collaboration to ensure that those who have been displaced in the communities and environs return to their ancestral home.
He said: “This project is dear to everyone on the Plateau; anybody that has a history of what has happened here in the last three years will be happy today. This day is a day of joy for our people for we have seen the realization that peace is begining to return because this is the major step in returning sustainable peace in the community again.
“I have listened to everyone that has spoken here and I allied to that, but there is one thing we left out. While we bring the security forces here to return peace to the community, we also need to start making cogent efforts at returning the people that have been displaced from their ancestral homes.
“It is key to the entrenchment of peace to this community. There are a lot of people that left these communities; they have left their homes and are now homeless. I think the next step where I will plead with the federal government is to join hands with the Plateau State government to make sure that we return these displaced people to their ancestral homes so that they can also farm and live happily.”
He promised that government would do everything within the shortest possible time to furnish the facility to make the operational activities of the deployed personnel conducive. Mutfwang insisted that community leaders must expose the criminal elements hibernating among them going forward towards making the community peaceful and other part of the state safe.
He said: “We encourage community leaders to ensure that criminal elements among the communities are fished out. These are the people that cause crisis among us. We have lived together, the Fulani and locals have lived together for decades without any problem. It cannot be now that we will have problem.”
The state government expressed readiness to collaborate with N-HYPPADEC for the execution of similar infrastructure in other HYPADEC local government of the state bedeviled by insecurity.
The Gbong Gwom Jos and chairman Council of Chiefs and Emirs in Plateau State, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, who was full of joy, recalled with pains how about 300 people were massacred by the marauding gunmen in a single attack and displaced thousands of the natives over the years, making life so difficult for his people.
He said: “This community had been a very peaceful community until we succumb to the voice of the devil and began to fight one another. Not just this community but there are several other communities that are experiencing this gross insecurity and this is the reality of the time we are in.
“This community was attacked years ago with about 300 lives lost. A promised was made sometimes ago by HYPADEC and to the glory of God we are witnessing the fulfillment of that promise. We want to thank all that have made this a reality today.
“No community can develop without welcoming other people, but we need people of goodwill, people who would respect their host communities, people who would want to joint hands with us in every part of this country to develop.”
The royal father insisted that what has happened in Gashish District of Barkin-Ladi over the years is a clear indication of how people of ill-will transform religion into weapons of destruction.
The police chief in the state, CP Emmanuel Adesina, while taking over the facility promised to make good use of the infrastructure which he said is the baby of the state government and protect them from criminal elements.
“I want to thank N-HYPADEC for the timely completion of this project. The project will go a long way as an assurance of safety to all the people in this community. We are providing minimal personnel at the moment so that this structures will not be vandalize by the enemies of progress.”
For Chong Dasong, a native of Nikan (Exland) and the secretary of Berom Youth Moulders Association Gashish District of Barkin-Ladi LGA, noted that with the establishment of the mobile police base in Kakuruk and its full operation, IDPs will be willing to return to their communities.
“This will give us hope, it is an indication that one day we (IDPs) will return to our homes and cultivate our farms. The people of Sharu community told me this morning that once security is here, they have the hope of coming back,” he emotionally stated
Going down memory lane on the unfortunate happenings in the area, the youth leader recalled: “From the beginning, it is as a result of the coming of some Fulani herders who were accepted to stay here by our great grand parents. At first, it was peaceful but later on things changed and we began to witness lawless grazing and that is what truly destabilize our district.
“The attacks started in 2012 but it become devastating in 2018. That was what made our people to leave these villages to settle in the towns. We have more than 20 villages that were displaced and were almost swallowed by the Fulani, including Ngio village, Dogo, Sharu, N’ar, Rantis, Ku-bong, Gashish-Ku, Kai and Kadung among others in this Gashish District.
“But with this, we have hope of coming back, because all those houses you are seeing are empty houses without people. Those houses at the foot of the mountains are Fulan settlements, not our people. N’ar people used to come and farm then go back to town again, making life more difficult. We have lost a lot of people on the road, either while coming or going back to town but with this development by HYPADEC we have hope, we can not thank them enough.”
Alhaji Isa Haruna from Exland town of Gashish District in Barkin-Ladi noted that his joy knows no bounds following the commissioning and handing over of the mobile police base in Kakuruk. He said he remains optimistic that with the gesture by HYPADEC, the lingering security problem facing the district will be a thing of the past and they look forward to a more cordial working relationship between natives and settlers.
Out of the over 151 hamlets and villages said to have either been totally “annexed” or effectively being “occupied by suspected Fulani militants, bandits or terrorists” in the such local government areas as Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Bokkos, Mangu and Riyom. Barkin-Ladi local government accounts for 52 of the villages with Gashish district having 24 of the total number of the annexed or occupied villages in the LGA.
This intervention by N-HYPADEC is one among the many needs of the community which is begging for attention, especially the deplorable road network from Barkin-Ladi town leading to the mobile police base at Kakuruk down to Kura Falls housing the Nesco power plant all in Gashish district of Barkin-Ladi.