Stakeholders blame poor security response for Plateau attacks

Stakeholders at a threeday peace and security conference organized by the Plateau State Peace Building Agency have blamed poor security response for the recent attacks that claimed many lives in parts of the state.

In a communiqué issued after the conference yesterday, the stakeholders said a gap between early warning and early response in the state was partly responsible for the resurgence of violent attacks.

“It was established that the security challenges in Plateau state is not limited to farmer/herder conflict. However the farmer/herder conflict presents a significant threat to peace and security in the entire state and the nation at large. Yet it would appear that there is no any concrete policy response to this problem at the state and national levels,” the communique stated.

The stakeholders called on the state government to demonstrate the political will to implement viable recommendations of some white papers and reports of past commissions of inquiry into violent conflicts in the state.

They also urged the federal and state governments to strengthen the operational capacity of all existing security outfits in the state, adding that, “there is the need for the state government to muster the political will to checkmate rampant cases of impunity and the weaknesses in retributive justice with regards to crimes and criminalities as this will greatly serve deterrence and also curtail reprisal attacks.”