The Plateau State government has constituted a committee for the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their homes.
The committee was inaugurated yesterday in the Government House in Rayfield, Jos, with a mandate to fight indiscriminate occupation of lands in the name of land grabbing.
Secretary to the State Government Rufus Bature lamented the indiscriminate occupation of land following the attacks in Barakin-ladi, Riyom, Mangu, Jos South, Jos North and Bokkos Local Government Areas.
Bature, who said the government will not condone such atrocity, warned that the administration will deal with any group engaging in such act.
He urged the committee to work towards reaching workable recommendations that will enhance the return of the IDPs to their homes.
โWith the inauguration of this committee, the government assures all citizens that it is alert to its responsibilities. We want to re-affirm the determination of this administration in sustaining peace and security,โ he added.
The committee comprises the following persons โ Air Vice Marshal Bala Dababa (rtd โ Chairman); CP Patrick Garba (rtd); Alhaji Saleh Bayari; Da. Christopher Gwom; Acting Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Rev. Yakubu Pam and Abus Ibrahim Izang.
Their terms of reference include โ identifying the areas affected; identifying those displaced and areas they were displaced from; to ascertain the number of people affected and displaced; to identify those who have annexed the destroyed villages and to work out modalities for their return.
Air Vice Marshall Danbaba (rtd) said the assignment is not what anyone will want to do, considering the circumstances surrounding it, but promised that the committee will carry out the assignment with all sense of responsibility.
