Posted by Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang said Monday that his state may learn from Rwanda’s example, which has emerged from its past troubles to become a peaceful African destination and popular tourist spot.
Additionally, he announced that the state would observe a week of mourning from January 1st to January 8th, 2024, in memory of the victims of the Christmas Eve attacks.
While in Jos, the capital of the state, celebrating the new year, he made the statement over a countrywide broadcast.
“While it is true that we ended the year 2023 on a sad note because of the many precious lives we lost,” he stated, referring to the over 400 lives lost between April and June of that year and the over 160 lives lost in the recent Christmas genocide that occurred in the same year.
The unfathomable loss of innocent lives, both known and unknown, has occurred in our beloved state. This tragedy began with little conflicts in 2001, and nobody could have predicted it would escalate to such a point.
“It breaks my heart that Plateau State has become the focus of attention across the country and the globe for all the wrong reasons,” he lamented.
These coordinated and unjustified assaults on multiple towns were obviously planned in advance, he claims. If we are to succeed in stopping this wanton devastation of lives and property, we must see and manage these attacks on our people as a clear case of criminality, insurgency, and terrorism.
To put it simply, the conventional wisdom has always portrayed these senseless and unprovoked assaults on our people as a conflict between farmers and herders. However, this portrayal is based on a distortion of the facts. This is plain old genocide, let’s call it what it is. He insisted.
From January 1st through January 8th, 2024, I would like to proclaim a week of sorrow in honor of the memories of the departed.
At half-mast, we shall fly our flags in observance of this time of sadness. Please, everyone, spend these days in prayer, asking God to protect us from the evildoers who have arisen to oppose us and our homeland.
May our Muslim leaders set aside Friday, January 5, 2024, and our Christian clergy set aside Sunday, January 7, 2024, as days of special prayer for the restoration of lasting peace to the Plateau. The Governor announced that Monday, January 8, 2024, would be observed as the official state day of mourning.
The fact that our resolve has not wavered in the face of such attacks is encouraging. There has been no wavering in our will to protect our country and make it prosperous. He warned that 2024 would show how strong and resilient they were despite the difficulties they had faced.
I want you to know how much I appreciate your faith in me and your support as I guide our nation through this challenging time of our evolution. Your support means the world to me, and I will never take it for granted. An eventful and challenging year came to a close.
So many of you stood in the hot sun to give me the order to lead you, and I’ll never forget it. Not only did you cast many ballots, but you also made sure each one counted. With his promise of “purposeful leadership,” Mutfwang promised to “pay back the debt of gratitude” that he owed you.
The Lord is on our side, and we shall triumph over our enemies, my fellow compatriots. In times of adversity, we find solace and strength in the Lord.
Plateau will continue to be the home of peace and tourism, no matter how difficult the problems of insecurity have been for our state. I want you to know that I am confident in our ability to overcome these challenges.
Plateau will be a popular tourist destination not only in Nigeria and Africa, but globally, if Rwanda has managed to emerge from its long history of internal strife and become a calm and desirable African destination.
“Our people are hospitable, our weather is pleasant, and our natural and human resources are abundant,” he asserted.
Despite the dismal year-end of 2023, I am pleased to report that we have accomplished some real progress since taking the oath of office on May 29th, 2023.
The latest failures occurred after we swiftly acted to restructure the security apparatus in the middle of the senseless murders that started in late April, leading to the relative tranquility that we had achieved.
Please allow me to take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathies to the people of the Plateau, particularly to the impacted communities and relatives of the victims of these senseless massacres.
Please know that you are not alone in the sorrow that you are experiencing; my entire family and the administration are here for you. We will not sit on our hands but will work side by side with the federal government until these disasters are over and those impacted find relief