Just In: North- Central Governors Visit Plateau, Donate N100million

Governors of the North-Central region on Tuesday visited Governor Caleb Mutfwang, this coming days after the deadly attacks that claimed over 190 lives in Plateau State,

The Governors included Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa) and Umaru Bago (Niger). However, Governors Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq (Kwara) were absent and no reason was given.

However, the governors donated N100 million on behalf of the region..

Plateau has been experiencing a series of attacks by non-state actors, locally called bandits, who kill people at will without being challenged by security agencies.

While the state is yet to recover from the death of several people in the Christmas Eve attacks on Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi local government areas of the state, the assailants struck again on December 31, killing two persons – a father and his son

The attacks prompted the visit of the service chiefs as well as the Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle and his Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation counterpart Betta Edu.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has criticized the government in the wake of the attacks, saying “the Nigerian authorities have been failing to end frequent deadly attacks on rural communities of Plateau state,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

North-West and central Nigeria have been long terrorised by bandit militias operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.

Competition for natural resources between nomadic herders and farmers, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has also exacerbated social tensions and sparked violence.

A jihadist conflict has raged in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing around two million, as Boko Haram battles for supremacy with rivals linked to the Islamic State group.