The governor made this known while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on Tuesday, noting that the mercenaries were being sponsored but he did not know those behind it.
The Plateau State Governor-elect, Caleb Mutfwang, has blamed foreign mercenaries for the incident of killings and the incessant attacks in the state.
The governor made this known while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on Tuesday, noting that the mercenaries were being sponsored but he did not know those behind it.
The governor-elect also promised to work for the people, maintaining he would not loot the state’s resources.
He said; "I am not in the best position to speak about the crisis since I am yet to be sworn in. But I can assure you that these people are brought in from outside those communities.
“I don’t have exact details to give you at the moment whether they are Nigerians. But all the years down the line, a lot of their identities have been revealed that these are not Nigerians and they have been brought in as foreign mercenaries.
“The purpose of those who perpetrate the attack may just be because they are hirelings. I want to ask: who is the person that is sponsoring them? Who is instigating them? What is his aim?
“Sometimes, it is difficult to disabuse your mind that this is not about land grabbing. The communities that have been displaced by now, it is not as if they are vacant. Some people are occupying them.
“We think it has a lot to do with land grabbing. It has a lot to do with demarketing of the state because I can tell you that the security situation in the Plateau is not the worst in the north,” the newly-elected governor said. “But there has been a lot of demarketing of the Plateau.
“My appetite for greed has been trimmed and I can assure you that I am not going there for stealing,” Mutfwang added. “I am only going there to make sure that Plateau works.”