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By Lawrence Agbo
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, on Wednesday said authorities were yet to identify those responsible for the recent attack in Angwan or determine their motives.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Mutfwang described the Sunday killings as “barbaric” and an act of terrorism, stressing that investigations were ongoing.
“What happened on Sunday evening was quite unfortunate, but the situation has been brought under control now. We’ve been able to evacuate corpses to the mortuary. Some families have already buried their dead ones,” he said.
He said he briefed the President on the situation and the steps taken so far, noting that security agencies had restored calm in the affected area.
“Well, the meeting was first of all for me to brief him firsthand about what actually happened, what are the steps we have taken, and to also offer suggestions. I mean, what are our plans going forward? Immediately after the crisis, we convened a Security Council meeting.
“We have been able to agree on certain steps that we need to take, and the President I have briefed him, and the President has agreed that those steps should be taken.
“The President commiserates with the entire state, and as a matter of fact, he’s contemplating coming to the state personally to commiserate with the people. It’s something that has touched him personally, and he wants to show the people his love and affection for them,” he said.
“And so, he has approved certain measures that we need to take further in conjunction with the security forces. What I can assure you is that this has become a decisive turning point that I’m sure going forward we’re going to see more proactive actions,” he added.
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According to him, a curfew imposed after the incident had been relaxed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., although security forces had to intervene to stop a fresh looting attempt on Wednesday morning.
“We imposed a curfew, which we relaxed this morning (Wednesday) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. But unfortunately, this morning (Wednesday), there were some looters who tried to disrupt the peace again, but I’m glad that the security forces working together were able to calm the situation as at 12 this afternoon, and so presently the situation is well under control.”
Mutfwang disclosed that the state’s Security Council had met and agreed on measures to prevent further violence, adding that Tinubu had approved additional steps to strengthen security efforts.
“Well, in a crisis of this nature, you can’t reduce it to one reason. It’s a mixture of multiple reasons, and sometimes you can only deduce the actual reasons when you are able to get two groups of people. First, the victims, and then the attackers,” he said.
While acknowledging that the attackers remain at large, the governor said the government would treat the incident strictly as criminality and ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to lay hands on the attackers yet to know their identities and their motive, but of course, the victims would normally speak like you have said, but we are seeing this as an act of criminality. It’s barbaric. We condemn it,” he said.
“It’s an act of terrorism, because whatever religion you belong to, it does not give you any basis to come and do the kind of actions that were done on Sunday. We’re therefore hoping that going forward, we’ll deal with this as criminality and make sure that these kind of actions do not repeat themselves,” he added.
He also revealed that the President commiserated with the people of Plateau and is considering a visit to the state to personally sympathise with victims and their families.
Mutfwang assured residents that the incident would mark a turning point in the state’s approach to security, with more proactive measures expected going forward.
