Plateau Senator seeks eviction of herdsmen occupying displaced people’s homes

Senator representing Plateau North in the Nigerian National Assembly, Istifanus Gyang says those ‘illegally’ occupying homes of displaced attack victims must be vacated.

This according to him should be done to allow the ‘rightful’ owners of the communities to return home, in line with the Federal Government’s resettlement plan.

Justice and peace cannot be achieved without ‘restitution’, Gyang said, Sunday in Jos, at a thanksgiving service organized to honour 188 people killed in Gashish District by suspected herdsmen in June 2018.

“No person should be allowed to displace another and takeover his land.

“It is like retaining the proceeds of crime,” he said.

The displaced villagers currently taking shelter in IDP camps and other locations outside their homes, the Senator said are in ‘dislocation’.

He said, “They are still in displacement and once someone is displaced, he is detached from his home and farmland, and is economically in dislocation.

“Generally, it’s a humanitarian challenge.”

Gyang pledged to followup on the Nigerian Government’s promise to set up a Police Base in the attack community to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

In the place of the Federal Police which he said is presently overstretched, the ex House of Reps member asked government to approve State Police to tackle ‘criminals’.

“For there to be peace, there must be order. And for there to be order, there must be implementation of laws. But if anyone will do anything and get away with it, it emboldens them in their criminality but once we enforce laws, it serves as deterrent,” said the Senator.