By Augustine Ehikioya
To end the incessant attacks and crises in Plateau State and other parts of the country, Security Expert, Mr. Patrick Agbambu has proffered some solutions as a way out.
According to him, the Plateau State Government should immediately go beyond lip service and constitute a committee comprising all stakeholders to monitor those spreading hate speeches in the various communities in the State.
Peace accords signed, he said, must also be respected across the country, not only in Plateau State.
He pointed out that such crises would not have been recurring in Plateau State and even happen in other parts of the country if the peace accords that have been signed over the years were even implemented up to 60 %.
Mr Agbambu spoke as a studio guest on TVC Breakfast programme focusing on the recent attacks in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The Security Expert also noted that the crisis has been reoccurring over the years because nobody is being made to pay for his or her deeds.
Agbambu believed that some individuals will also never want peace to prevail as they always profit from such crises and the blood bath that normally follow.
As a way forward, he urged the intelligence agencies to do more than they are presently doing by infiltrating the communities.
They, he said, should be steps ahead of the crisis before they break out in order to give room for countering measures to be put in place.
He also harped on the need to change the intelligence format, which is the way intelligence is gathered.
As part of the problems resulting in the reoccurrence, Mr Agbambu said that civil policing have continuously failed in their responsibilities every year.
He specifically said that the Nigeria Police is incapacitated and can not handle the quantum and magnitude of security challenges in the country as the quality of their output has been dwindling over the years.
To this end, he called for a national emergency to restructure the Police, injecting more Police personnel and getting more equipment.
Agbambu noted that the agitation for State Police will not solve the present security challenges, but create other problems.
According to him, there are foundations that needed to be laid before having State Police in the country, which are yet to be done.
He said “So it’s time for government, when I mean government, I mean that government, with all its powers must sit up and ensure that anybody who instigates any trouble, whoever you are, whether you are highly placed or not, whether you’re a political figure or traditional ruler, whoever you think you are, must be dealt with instantly, because it’s beginning to look like people can do anything, and the rest of the citizens can be killed for no justifiable reasons.
“And I think that it’s enough for what is happening and the government. It’s not the security forces this time around, it’s the government, and when I mean the government, the political leaders must call a spade a spade and ensure that they do the needful by constituting immediately an enforcement committee that will be made up of all stakeholders involved in this situation with the security forces aa part of it, to monitor from community to community, anybody who is spreading hate must be arrested and be dealt with instantly.”
The Security Expert, also faulted the indoctrination given to some children at their early ages in some places.
“Let me tell you, one of the problems that we are having in this country, not just on the Plateau but across, is when you indoctrinate a child with hate, saying that your own tribe is superior to the other tribe, the other tribe contributes nothing or brings nothing to the table, you are creating a monster for tomorrow.
“When you believe that no matter whatever the other tribe does, that it’s parasitic, or whatever you want to call it, then you are creating a problem that whenever that child sees somebody from that tribe, there is this hatred, there is this animosity that grows.
“And any little disagreement or misunderstanding will escalate to the point of what we’re talking now, death.”
The issue of indigeneship and settlers, he noted, has greatly contributed to the crises in the country.
“On the Plateau and in some communities in Nigeria, some people have indoctrinated their youths to believe that anybody who is not from their stock is not worthy to be in their land, and that is where the problem is. We are creating a generation of people who will continue to become a problem in the society by the kind of upbringing some people are breeding into children.
“Imagine when you see leaders of some of these tribes on the Plateau or in some other places saying that they will not agree until this is done, until that is done, then there will never be peace. You know, peace is that we must all come together. There must be some compromise.
“There must be some consequences for even the previous actions done so that people can have some peace. Like I said earlier, the Operation SAFE HAVEN on the Plateau and the environment, if not for what they are doing, I tell you that by now, on the Plateau and even in the Benue situation will have been worse than what we are having.
“But it cannot continue like this. The roads are terrible for the security services to even be able to access some of these communities. And so it requires the civil authority to sit up and do their work. But as we speak, the civil authority at the Local, State and Federal governments have failed the people, and that is what we are seeing today.”
Mr Agbambu went on, “Let me tell you, from the knowledge I have, particularly, on the Plateau. After this noise we are seeing now, then everybody will just withdraw back and continue as normal. Nothing is being implemented, and nothing is being done, just leaving the security forces to be bearing the brunt.
“I tell you that the only peace, or the only meeting, the only gathering to resolve some of all these anticipatory issues, were conducted by Operations SAFE HAVEN. The political forces that are there, because they are struggling for powers, do not consider it important to seek peace and implement measures that will entrench this peace. That is the situation.
“It’s easier for someone to say that I feel the pain of the people. But deep down, what are you doing towards taking care of this situation. And that is where I disagree with some of the utterances and rhetorics of some of these political classes. I think that it’s time for them to put their foot on the ground and call a spade a spade. We know what the solution is. And why is it difficult to implement the solution? He queried.
Throwing more light on the recent attack in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, he said “In the incident that happened 2nd of April 2025, I must say was very unfortunate and terrible and must be condemned by every well-meaning individual, because Nigerians, Nigeria should not be losing its citizens, at the will and caprices of some criminals who commit mayhem, here and there.
Noting that there are remote and immediate causes of the attack, he said, some of the causes are still not being addressed headlong.
“And that is why the problem is still lingering. It’s sad that this thing has been happening for decades. Up until now, the country has not been able to find a lasting solution. Yes, last year, 2024, there was some succour because it seemed to go down up until this incident that started happening in February.
“We’re talking about 2nd April, but this issue started from February this year, 27th February, precisely, when this issue got out of hand.”
According to him, the remote causes included the struggle for land and resources and the disagreement over indigeneship and settlership.
He added, “But beyond that is the discontent that is so rooted in the hearts of the people living on the Plateau, of the Plateau citizens, whether you are a non Indigene, quote and unquote. Because I believe that the Nigerian Constitution does not describe any Nigerian citizen as a non indigene anywhere.
“But some people are the real owners of the land, while some other people have come to settle for over centuries now, and so calling them non indigene becomes contrary to what the Constitution of the Federal Republic says.
“And this is where the main issue is. And I think that the solution to all this is the Nigerian government sitting up and taking the format that was introduced in Rwanda, saying that, Look, nobody must call anybody anything. When you are caught doing that, you must be dealt with severely. And that will be what will solve this problem.
“We can not continue in this light. The military, they are trying. In fact, if not for the military, I believe that by now, nobody will be living on the Plateau. They are trying their best, but there’s an extent they can do.
“The civil authority and the people, they have more to do in making sure that there is love among themselves and we can’t continue with this hate, because both sides are losing both people and resources.
“And so I don’t think any well-meaning person will want to continue in this situation unless the person believes that he’s gaining from the lives and bloods of people that have been wasted.” he stated.
He also countered the high figures been reported as casualties from the Bokkos attack.
“I think first of all, we must get it right as at late yesterday night, the casualty figure, in terms of deaths, is still at 37 and contrary to some of the figures that are being spread across, because whoever thinks that it is more than that, I think the best thing is to provide evidence of where those people were recovered, because the military decided to do a cleanup of the whole area, and bodies that were recovered were duly buried.
“And of course, search and rescue is still going on. And I tell you that over hundreds of people were rescued and taken care of immediately after the incident that happened.
“But to say that there is no possible cause for this is half truth, I must say.
Because I know that the recent incident that culminated to this April 2 we’re talking about can be traced back to February, when we had attacks and reprisal attacks.
“There have been several attacks, and the military have always come in to ensure that it doesn’t spread more than it is. And the truth that Nigerians must understand is that the security forces can not be everywhere. We don’t have enough forces that will be in every community or every road leading to every community.
“It’s when there are attacks that they can be called upon. Then secondly, intelligence, because it seems that some of these people causing these issues are living within. They are not coming from outside some of these communities. So they all live and interrelate until when there is an issue.
“The last situation, I must say, was that some youths chased away some worshippers during the Sallah prayer on the Sallah day. And of course, there was disagreement, and someone was killed, and this must have resulted in these recent reprisal attacks. I think that the issue is that both sides of the divide are not helping issues, “Mr Agbambu said.