No fewer than 1,801 persons have been confirmed killed and 50,212 others displaced in recent attacks in Plateau state.
The Committee on Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), set up by the Plateau Government, made the confirmation on Monday.
Chairman of the committee, AVM Bala Danbaba (retired), presented the report to Gov. Simon Lalong on Monday in Jos.
Rtd AVM Danbaba said that the committee identified 115 communities cutting across Jos North, Jos South, Bassa, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bokkos Local Government Areas, that were affected by the crises.
He said that the committee, whose one month period was later increased to two months, received 55 memorandum and visited 27 camps where the IDPs were quartered.
“The only IDPs camp we did not visit was the one at Lere, in the Dorowa area of Barkin Ladi Local Government. We could not go there because of security reasons. The committee also visited all the affected communities for an on-the-spot assessment,” he stated.
The Chairman of the committee said the committee had recommended that the IDPs be returned to their ancestral homes, adding that the exercise should be carried out in four phases.
He suggested that a victim support programme be initiated to reduce their sufferings.
The committee also called for the establishment of temporary camps within the victims’ communities, for them to live in, while their houses were being reconstructed.
The Plateau State Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, who received the report, commended the committee for a carrying out a good job, and announced that the 7-man committee would be responsible for its implementation.
Mr. Lalong reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to securing lives and property, and condemned insinuations that the state and Federal Governments were doing nothing to end the crises.
“Things might be slow, but in the spirit of “slowly, but surely”, as well as patience, we have been able to make some phenomenal achievements in ensuring that peace returns and is sustained. As some of our strategic initiatives in engendering peace and security in the State, this administration attracted the establishment of the 205 Combat and Rescue Units in Kerang,” he stressed.
Mr Lalong also added that he had approved the recruitment and training of neighborhood watch personnel who had been attached to Operation Rainbow for community policing and intelligence gathering.
Radio Nigeria
