Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong on Wednesday summoned a stakeholders meeting to further engage on the processes of de-escalating the #EndSARS Protest situation and enhancing the security of the State.
The stakeholders meeting is coming a day after the Governor imposed a 24-hour curfew in Jos South and Jos North Local Government Areas,
While addressing the stakeholders who include traditional rulers, community leaders, religious leaders, and special interest groups, Governor Lalong said the #ENDSARS protest which began peacefully was gradually degenerating into chaos as hoodlums attacked and molested innocent citizens who were going about their normal businesses.
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This development he said took a new turn on Tuesday when the protests led to the destruction of properties, cars and looting of business premises along the Ahmadu Bello way as well as the burning of a place of worship along Gyero Road in Bukuru. In addition, five deaths.
He said “Government was left with no choice than to impose a curfew to stop further loss of lives and properties. As collaborators and partners in our inclusive governance architecture, l have once again convened this interface to update you and equally solicit for your input as the way to consolidate on the calm atmosphere that has been restored in the affected areas. Peace is a priceless commodity that we cannot do without”.
He warned that no one will be allowed to jeopardise the peace of the State because the protests had been hijacked and now taking the dimension of ethno religious crisis. He said his administration will not tolerate the actions of these miscreants as anyone who constitutes threats to the lives and properties of law abiding citizens will be dealt with decisively.
Plateau State Commisoner of Police CP Egbuka said the ENDSARS protesters had refused to heed the advice of security agencies which led to the unfortunate situation. He said intelligence shows that the protest was infiltrated by some people behind the scenes who are bent on causing chaos. He said so far, five deaths have been recorded as two corpses we discovered in Jos South Local Government on Wednesday.
Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba commended Governor Lalong for his prompt action to intervene in the crisis so as to ensure that the State and its people do not witness violence. He said as traditional, community, and religious leaders, everyone has a role to play to ensure that those dark days do not return.
Stakeholders in their contributions called for further engagement with stakeholders in the various communities to ensure that normalcy is restored to enable government lift the curfew.
According to the Governor’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr. Makut Macham the communique reached at the event recommended among other things that more efforts should be made to identify and dialogue with leadership of the protests and also fish out the criminals to be brought to justice.
