Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau says the remaining occupants of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp at Mangu will return home on Wednesday.
Lalong stated this on Tuesday at the inauguration of a Community Hall reconstructed by Operation Safe Haven, the military special task force in charge of security in the state.
He said that government would no longer harbour IDPs in camps as those who were not IDPs had turned the facility into a business venture.
“With the support of Operation Safe Haven and other security agencies, our remaining IDPs will start moving back to their ancestral homes on Wednesday.
“If you are an IDP, know that you are going to your place tomorrow, because we realise that the people who are not IDPs are the ones enjoying the camps.
“Anytime they say that something is coming that place will be full.
“We will start giving them the attention they deserve in their various homes and not in IDPs camps,” he said.
The governor said with the support of security agencies, peace had been restored in the state.
He, however, warned that anybody caught kidnapping or harbouring kidnappers would be decisively dealt with.
He said his administration would not tolerate any form of crime under whatever guise.
Lalong thanked President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin and the OPSH Commander, Maj.-Gen. Augustine Agundu, for the provision of the hall.
He also commended OPSH’s contribution to the peace process in the state.
In his remarks, Gen. Olonisakin said that the Defence Headquarters had created a civil-military corporation to take care of people who were caught up in crises.
The CDS, who was represented by Rear Adm. Habila Ngalabak, Chief of Civil Military Cooperation, Defence Headquarters, said that OPSH had initiated some projects in that regard.
He said that apart from the hall, the OPSH recently renovated some blocks of classrooms in Jos North and Bassa local government areas.
“Apart from the ones already executed, three other projects have been approved for the first, second and third quarters of 2020,” he said.
In his address, the OPSH commander assured the people of the state that the task force would not rest on its oars in ensuring that total peace was restored within its area of responsibility.
“Operation Safe Haven will work tirelessly to ensure that all nooks and crannies of the state return to what they were in the olden days, ‘the Home of Peace’.
“Thank you Plateau for giving us the opportunity to serve you,” he said.
He commended Gov. Lalong for his leadership quality that epitomised peace, which he said, had made their job easier.
(NAN)
