A coalition of over 11 indigenous youth associations in Plateau State has called on the Federal Government to deploy additional operatives of the Department of State Services to communities under repeated attacks, saying intelligence-led operations are critical to ending the renewed wave of killings.
The coalition, comprising the Afizere, Anaguta, Atakar, Aten, Berom, Irigwe, Kulere, Mushere, Mwaghavul, Pan and Ron ethnic youth associations, made the demand at a joint press conference in Jos on Wednesday.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Chairman of the Ethnic Coalition in the Northern Zone, Dalyop Mwantiri, alleged that at least 50 people had been killed within the past week in fresh attacks on communities in Riyom and Bassa local government areas, with thousands displaced.
“In the past one week, at least 50 persons have been killed by terrorists operating in our various communities. And as we speak, the killings have not stopped, while thousands of displaced people have been recorded,” Mwantiri said.
He described the violence as part of a prolonged humanitarian crisis that had devastated indigenous communities across Plateau State.
