Despite recent security crisis that has led to loss of lives in Plateau State, Commissioner of Land and Survey, Yakubu Dati, has said Governor Simon Lalong stands with his people.
He said the anger that has pierced the state and gave vent to anti-government reactions was understandable due to tragic events that took place in the state recently. He, however, said it should not question the loyalty of the governor to the people.
The commissioner lamented that the crisis had given opportunity to political opponents and opportunists to twist events to their favour and against the government that has done so much for the people. He said the plot would fail because the governor was with the people.
Dati in the statement “Lalong standing with Plateau people” flayed political opportunists who have latched on primordial fault lines to feed a narrative that sees recent crisis from the narrow lenses of ethnic and religious divides.
“As this is hardly the case with the recent issues in Plateau State, people of good conscience have been able to scrutinise the twist, analysed its content and exposed it as baseless.”
Dati said in the last six years of Governor Lalong, Plateau State has witnessed and continued to enjoy tremendous peace compared with the preceding years when the state was set in turmoil for a period of time.
He said during the period, the state government had been privileged to enjoy tremendous support from President Muhammadu Buhari and the various security agencies in the country.
He alleged political opponents’ combined evil machinations had led to sporadic violent conflicts in some areas of the state, particularly in parts of Riyom, Bassa and Jos North Local Government Areas.
“These well orchestrated evil actions are carefully designed and fed into the sentiments of Plateau people, such that the resort to ethnic and religious sentiments were becoming the new normal. That explains the happenings in Irigwe land, the slaughtering of unarmed Nigerian citizens travelling from Bauchi to Ondo en route Jos, as well as subsequent reprisals and counter attacks, all aimed at inducing avoidable violent conflicts to instigate religious and ethnic crises as a deliberate ploy to destabilise the state at all cost,” he said.
Dati, however, assured that Governor Lalong would continue to prioritise peace in Jos – Bukuru Metropolis and all the local governments that were under constant threats and attacks, such as Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos South, Jos North and Bassa.