Jos crises: Solution rests with FG -Jang

Vanguard

9 September 2011

Jos crises: Solution rests with FG -Jang

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Jos—Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State yesterday said the solution to the perennial crisis in the state rested squarely with the Federal Government and not the state government even as he said  “enough is enough” to the bloodshed.

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The governor, however, promised that everything would be done to bring the violence to an end, saying he would liaise with the Federal Government to find a solution to the problem.

He dared those calling for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state as a result of the recurring violence saying, “That is the target of the enemies of Plateau. They have been making such calls, but if they have the power let them go ahead and declare it. And I will advise them to start from the headquarters of Boko Haram.”

Meanwhile, the Plateau State Commissioner of Police Mr. Dipo Ayeni yesterday warned that the culture of impunity by perpetrators of violence in the state and their sponsors would no longer be tolerated saying there would not be any sacred cow.

He gave the warning on at a parley between security agencies and other stakeholders, saying the culture of lawlessness would no longer be tolerated.

He described peace as crucial to development describing the level of insecurity in the state as alarming adding “the state Police Command and other security agencies in the state cannot fold their hands and allow Plateau State, our area of responsibility to be turned into a state of anomie.”

Ayeni said it was important for stakeholders to discuss and jointly find ways of bringing the violence to an end and to the bloodletting and begin to show respect for the sanctity of life.

He identified the presence of a large army of unemployed, drug-taking youths in the state as a major contributor to the insecurity in the state urging government to do something about the situation.

“We have discovered that there is an army of uneducated, goskolo drinking and drug taking youths who are in thousands on the Plateau. They are restless, uncoordinated; they have a bleak future because there is no investment in their lives.

“These are foot soldiers used by the crisis promoters or merchants to kill, to burn, to maim. Government has to intervene by mobilizing and annexing them for positive developmental efforts. If this army of jobless youths can be taken out of the streets of Jos, the market for ready tools of violence and wanton destruction of lives and property must have been closed down”, Ayeni said.