The Plateau State Government has stated that it will not bow to blackmail or intimidation in its efforts to develop the state.
The Plateau State government, in a statement on Tuesday, was responding to attacks on its staff working to implement the Jos City Renewal Policy of Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s administration.
Chronicle NG reports that during the attacks in the Bukuru community of the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau state on Monday, one person was killed, while several properties, including cars and buildings, were set ablaze by the hoodlums.
Prior to the Bukuru incident, a police officer attached to the enforcement team of the Jos Metropolitan Development Board, JMDB, was shot dead when task force officials working to clear the streets of trading clashed with hoodlums at the Jos Terminus Market.
In addition, a portion of transporters and other trade unions, under the aegis of the Plateau State Joint Transport, Traders, and Marketers Association, proclaimed a sit-at-home across the state to express their opposition to the government’s stance.
The violence staged by hoodlums and the opposition mounted by some trade unions came after the governor signed an executive order to restrict unlawful building construction and traffic in the state.
According to JMDB’s General Manager, Hart Bankat, who issued Executive Order No. 003, 2024, it became necessary due to the indiscriminate manner in which structures were being developed and traffic control had deteriorated under the Greater Jos Master Plan.
The order was also issued in response to the state’s high rate of building collapse, with the JMDB promising to guarantee its implementation until its objectives were met.
In a Tuesday statement signed by the Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Musa Ashoms, the administration stated that it would not be discouraged from reaching its goals, which influenced the executive order.
The statement labelled the hoodlums’ conduct as not only in bad taste but also provocative.
Despite the widespread awareness and engagement with stakeholders, the the Plateau State government was perplexed as to why such attacks would be directed at its officers who were carrying out authorised duties.
Emphasising its ability to enforce the law for the good of the people, despite disapproval by those who did not mean well for the state, the statement, titled “Bukuru incident in bad faith, provocative,” read in part: “Plateau State on Monday, June 17, 2024, woke up to another gory descent to criminality as the Joint Task Force executing Executive Order 003 made to carry out its lawful duty in the Bukuru metropolitan area.
“In line with its brief, the JMDB Joint Task Force was at the Bukuru Market in the Jos South Local Government Area to ensure that businesses were in operation within the ambit of the law, given that the market was designated by the government to accommodate only lawful activities without the provision for street vendors.
“But like an apparition of the recent Ahmadu Bello Way incident, where resistance to the enforcement of this order led to the tragedy of that day, gangs of miscreants came at the task force once again.
“We condemn the destruction of property and sympathise with those pained by the losses incurred. We assure the public of the government’s capacity not only to rein in this emerging tendency but to also bring perpetrators to book.”
It further stated that it would drive the state in the direction of good development and that nothing could halt the goal.
“We see this recurring bad behaviour as not only sad but provocative. That the government’s authority to enforce law and order for the common good, despite massive publicity and engagement, can be so brazenly challenged amounts to blackmail to which the government is not ready to succumb.
“As a government that embodies the legitimate aspirations of its citizens, we recall the massive publicity and engagement with stakeholders and various communities.
“It is unfortunate, therefore, that elements fixated on the old ugly path of retrogression are trying to impede the march of progress. But we dare say the time to let go of the past is now, as no amount of resistance by beneficiaries of a bad system will stop the progress being made.
“The government is determined to move Plateau State in the direction of positive transformation, and nothing will stop the attainment of this noble objective,” it added.
