Governor Caleb Mutfwang has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria with immediate effect following the deteriorating security situation within the area.
In a press statement, a spokesperson for the governor, Gyang Bere, said the decision was taken after consultations with relevant security agencies and to avoid a breakdown of law and order in the local government area.
Bere said citizens, especially Mangu residents, are enjoined to comply with the sit-at-home order while only persons on essential duties are allowed to move within the local government area until further notice.
The governor lamented that some people are still determined to create an atmosphere of insecurity in the state despite government’s efforts to end activities of terrorist elements.
He also expressed sympathy to families of the victims and the injured with assurances that government will not relent in ensuring lasting peace in the state.
He promised that the curfew would be reviewed as soon as security situation improves in the locality.
For decades, Plateau has been plagued with internecine crises, attributed to ethnicity and religion but these two factors have been dispelled over time while some persons believe the crises have to do with disagreement between herders and farmers.
The latest in the string of attacks was on last Christmas Eve when dark-hearted assailants conducted blood-curling simultaneous attacks on communities in the Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of the the state.
The attacks claimed over 200 lives with hundreds of houses and farmlands burnt. That the assailants were not repelled by security agents irked many Nigerians.
As usual, the government and the military have condemned the attack and made a few promises after well-publicised trips to the state but sturdy voices in Northern Nigeria like the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan-Kukah, has scolded the government and the military over failure to protect the people on the Plateau who continued to suffer recurring aggression from marauders.