Caleb Mutfwang, governor of Plateau, says his use of an armoured personnel carrier (APC) during a visit to Angwan Rukuba in Jos north LGA on Monday, following the attack on the community was misrepresented on social media.
Mutfwang visited the community after suspected bandits
killed about 28 people and injured several others in the community on Sunday
evening.
The governor arrived with a heavy security presence,
including an armoured vehicle from where he began addressing the tense crowd
that besieged his convoy.
However, clips from the visit swiftly circulated on social
media, generating wide reactions and heated debate.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme
on Friday, the governor dismissed claims that he acted out of fear, insisting
that security protocol informed the decision.
Mutfwang said he had been in Abuja for official engagements,
including a high-level security meeting, when news of the attack reached him,
prompting his immediate return to Plateau.
According to him, residents at the scene had refused to
allow evacuation of the victims’ bodies until he arrived.
“Unless they see the governor, they are not going to allow
those corpses to be evacuated,” he said.
Mutfwang said although he intended to drive straight to the
scene, security operatives advised caution due to what they perceived as a
potentially hostile environment.
“The security personnel have a duty to protect me, and if
they assess that the situation they perceived was hostile, they had a duty to
protect me,” he said.
The governor added that despite the risks, he insisted on
visiting the scene.
“I could have stayed back until the whole thing had calmed
down, but I insisted on going to the scene,” he said.
He further clarified that standing through the roof hatch of
the armoured vehicle was primarily to enable him to address the crowd
effectively.
“From the height I stood… it was for me to gain height in
order to address the crowd,” Mutfwang said, noting that the residents later
reassured him of his safety and urged him to come closer.
The governor also criticised what he described as selective
portrayal of the incident on social media.
“If not for mischief, why are people not focusing on where I
spent 90 percent of the time with the crowd, seeing the corpses, appealing to
people, calming people?” he said.
“You could see that social media can take a small portion
and misrepresent it completely.”
Mutfwang maintained that he felt safe among the people
during the visit.
“I was comfortable with the people. I knew the people were
not going to harm me, but the security had to do their assessment and
evaluation,” he added.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com