Mr. Simon Lalong, Governor of Plateau State giving the 2021 Democracy day address on June 12. (Credit: Plateau State govt media unit).
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – Plateau State government has trained and deployed over 500 Community Police Constables to the 17 local government areas of the State to work with communities and curb crimes and other violent attacks in the State.
This is even as the State security outfit, Operation Rainbow and other security agencies have been support with the purchase of 50 security patrol vehicles and 200 security motorcycles to boost their capacity for effective response to crimes and distress calls.
The State Governor, Simon Lalong who disclosed these however lamented that despite the efforts, the State still recorded “sad developments of isolated killing of innocent citizens in various parts of the State” as “such cases were recorded in Kulben, Mangu LGA; Kwatas in Bokkos LGA; Foron in Barkin Ladi LGA; Kwall in Bassa LGA; and recently in Dong in Jos North and Kwi in Riyom LGA among others.”
Although some of the perpetrators have been arrested while the manhunt for others is continuing, the Governor stressed, “We shall not rest until they are brought to justice.”
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Speaking during a statewide broadcast on Saturday afternoon, Lalong also announced the State pardon granted to seven prisoners, some of whom were on death row.
His words, “Fellow citizens, shortly after re-electing us into office in 2019, we recast the vision of the APC-led Rescue Administration from a 5-pillar mandate to a three-pillar mandate. Our concentration since then has been on Peace, Security and Good Governance; Infrastructural Development; and Sustainable Economic Rebirth. To fine-tune our implementation plan, we engaged the famous Boston Consulting Group to develop a Strategic Development Plan to guide the programmes and projects of the Government.
“The report submitted reaffirmed the need for us to focus on key areas of comparative advantage such as Agriculture, Tourism and Mining among others for rapid development of the State. Let me therefore highlight some of our efforts in the last two years. We have taken several measures to consolidate on the substantial peace and security that have returned to the State. Apart from strengthening the Plateau Peace Building Agency, we inaugurated the Plateau State Inter-Religious Council, consisting of respected leaders of the two dominant faiths and respected traditional rulers to wade into any area of potential crises for prevention and reconciliation.
“We also adopted the Community Policing Initiative after a thorough engagement with key stakeholders who agreed with Government that grassroots approach to security is the best way to stop crimes and identify criminals.
“Consequently, we trained and deployed 529 Community Police Constables to the 17 Local Governments of the State. We also initiated the Security Surveillance System that is also grassroots-oriented and commissioned the first Surveillance Centre at Dutse Uku, Jos-Jarawa. Work is ongoing on the next one in Bauchi Road which we hope to complete and deploy sooner than later.
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“To further strengthen the Operation Rainbow and support other security agencies, we purchased 50 security patrol vehicles and 200 security motorcycles to boost their capacity for effective response to crimes and distress calls. They will soon be commissioned and deployed. We also signed into law the Anti-Land Grabbing, Kidnapping and Cultism Bill which was passed by the State House of Assembly. This law takes care of criminals who want to use force, intimidation or clandestine means to take over lands that do not belong to them. It also prescribes stiff penalties including the death sentence for those who engage in kidnapping and other violent crimes and cultism in the State.”
In a bid to encourage the ease of doing business in the State, he added, “we established the One Stop Investment Centre in Jos with the assistance of the GIZ to remove obstacles in the path of investors that are willing to bring their monies to the State. This has brought various agencies of Government under one roof and facilitated the inflow of new businesses to the State. To further boost the economy, we facilitated the introduction of a shuttle flight from Jos to Abuja to provide an alternative to businessmen, tourists and visitors who wish to easily connect to the State from the nation’s capital. The flight operated by Max Air has been very successful and continues to bring in more investors to the State.”
On State pardon, he stated, “In the spirit of the 2021 Democracy Day and in thanksgiving to God for guiding us through the last six years, and in exercise of the powers conferred on me as Governor in Section 212 of the Constitution of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended), after due consultation with The State Advisory Council On Prerogative Of Mercy, I have granted various categories of pardon to seven (7) Prisoners for their good conduct.
“All these pardons are granted for reasons of good conduct, with effect from the different dates of sentences. The concerned persons are: Nanfa Gwantur (Death Sentence commuted to life imprisonment), Timkur Laven (Death Sentence commuted to life imprisonment), Ponzing Nanshe (Death Sentence commuted to life imprisonment), Dauda Joshua (Death Sentence commuted to life imprisonment), Wasa Zachariah (Death Sentence commuted to life imprisonment), Davou Mancha (Absolute Pardon) and Cletus Augustine (Absolute Pardon).
