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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Plateau State Government has fortified the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, following a series of attacks by gunmen that claime≠≠d the lives of security personnel attached to the nation’s premier policy think-tank.
Commissioner for Environment, Climate Change and Mineral Development, Joshua Nanven, said the government had fulfilled its commitment to strengthen security around the institute and neighbouring communities following the attacks.
Speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Jos on Thursday, Nanven said additional solar-powered lights had been installed around the sprawling institution, including the participants’ quarters, to improve visibility and deter night attacks.
NIPSS had suffered attacks by gunmen in recent months, raising concerns about the security of the institute, its personnel and participants.
Nanven recalled that Governor Caleb Mutfwang, during Vice President Kashim Shettima’s visit to the institute following the attacks, promised to provide additional lighting points to illuminate vulnerable areas and strengthen security around NIPSS and neighbouring communities.
According to the commissioner, the measures are part of a broader security intervention by the Mutfwang administration, including the deployment of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at identified flashpoints in Jos and installation of additional solar-powered streetlights across the metropolis.
He said improved surveillance and lighting were intended to complement other security measures and make it more difficult for criminal elements to operate under the cover of darkness.
Nanven maintained that Plateau was better protected under the Mutfwang administration, arguing that improved security and other interventions had strengthened public confidence in the governor ahead of the 2027 election.
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The commissioner, who was recently redeployed from the Ministry of Works, also dismissed suggestions that the move was punitive.
He said the redeployment was part of efforts to reposition the machinery of government ahead of 2027 and strengthen the administration’s delivery as it seeks a second term.
“We are not in competition in this government; we are working together as a team, and I can assure you that we’re all winners.
“What I’ve done and left in the Works Ministry now is plug and play, and my successor will come and continue from where I stopped,” he said.
Nanven expressed confidence in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections, predicting that the party would perform strongly in contests from the presidency to the state House of Assembly.
He dismissed the opposition as no threat to Mutfwang’s second-term ambition.
“The best hands are being recruited in every team that wants to win. So Plateau State is already focused, and we don’t need to be distracted.
“We need to be focused and ensure that Plateau State achieves this dream of this apostle of the time, who has transformed the state, and I’m a part of the team that is cardinal in this transformation,” he said.
