Plateau Crisis Worrisome, Says Gov, Seeks NEMA’s Intervention

Plateau State governor, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang has described the increasing incidents of human suffering following recent insurgency in the state as worrisome and called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to intervene.

Mutfwang, further said, while they appreciate individuals, NGOs, corporate organisations for coming to the aid of the unsettled and bereaved people, they have also come to thank NEMA because it has done a lot in addressing these issues and appealed to them to do more.

Mutfwang stated this when he paid a courtesy call on the director-general, NEMA, in Abuja.

Speaking on the sidelines shortly after the brief meeting with the NEMA boss, the governor said, “We have had a lot of incidences of insurgency in the last two to three months that have assumed the dimension of a national disaster.

“Whenever a life is lost, it is a subject of concern but where you have over 200 people who have lost their lives, it requires a new dimension.”

The governor further said, “As a result of the insurgency, we have a lot of internally displaced people who are today in IDPs camps, we have a lot of unsettled communities and of course once you have such crisis, the incidence of human suffering also increases and once you have human beings suffering from hunger, displacement, every responsible government must do something to be able to address some of those conditions and there is no other agency that is saddled with the constitutional responsibility as a nation to address those issues other than NEMA.”

Responding, the director-general, NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed said whenever disaster hits, he quickly requests for on-the-spot assessment to get a report and the agency responds swiftly.

According to him, “We will not turn our backs on Plateau State or any other state.”

Speaking on the flood issue, Ahmed said: “As a result of the floods of last year which affected farmers, who lost crops and farmlands; NEMA has already positioned relief items in the 36 states of the country including the FCT. Items are already there for the farmers.

“We are waiting for presidential directives to flag off. Food security is very important, we have to safeguard that and get farmers back to the farm and for those displaced. NEMA is there for the distressed, we will definitely reach out, we will make sure everybody is taken care of.”