The Chairman of the Northern Zone Coalition of Indigenous Youth Nationalities, Dalyop Mwantiri, has disclosed that no fewer than 50 innocent people were cruelly murdered by armed bandits in Plateau State communities in the last three weeks alone.

Mwantiri named the affected communities to include Mushere, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bassa, stating that before the deployment of the Department of State Services (DSS) to the areas, no fewer than 200 persons were also killed within the last five months around that axis, bringing the total to 250, while countless others had fled their homes.

However, he told a newsmen conference at the Plateau State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Jos yesterday that justice has not yet been done to the affected communities.

In the meantime, no fewer than 46,983 registered voters have been displaced by violent attacks in Plateau State, marking a significant logistical hurdle for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2027 general election.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Sam Elegwu, told newsmen that the displaced populations are dispersed across eight local council areas, including Bassa, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Jos South, Mangu, Kanam, Riyom and Kanke.

According to him, these eight areas encompass 95 registration areas (wards), 29 of which currently host displaced populations. He noted that while government agencies continue to address the humanitarian crisis, electoral officials are tasked with ensuring that citizens who are unable to return safely to their polling units are not disenfranchised.

According to Mwantiri, the conference was organised in conjunction with the Coalition of Plateau State Indigenous Youth Bodies to address continued terrorism and banditry, fictitious claims and false alarms by the Fulani occupiers of grabbed lands at Kwak (Ruga Ajalo) in Robb District of Barkin Ladi Council.

Mwantiri stated that they are strengthened by an unwavering resolve to speak the truth about the tragic reality confronting their people.

“Our communities have become theatres of bloodshed; our ancestral lands have been violently invaded, our villages reduced to desolation, our farms abandoned, our economic life strangulated, and thousands of our people condemned to lives of displacement, fear and uncertainty,” he stated.

“Generations that ought to be building prosperity have, instead, buried loved ones, fled from their ancestral homes, and struggle merely to survive elsewhere.

To address the voting challenges, Elegwu said INEC was currently mapping the affected communities and compiling data to determine the best approach for IDP participation in the 2027 polls.

He disclosed that electoral officers in the affected areas have been directed to identify displaced voters, verify their current locations, and determine the status of their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to know whether they require replacement or new registration. (The Guardian, excluding headline)

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