The relocation will take place in stages, according to the Plateau State Task Force on relocation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Air Commodore Christopher Pam (retd.), the task force’s leader, revealed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in a Jos interview.
On March 25, Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of Plateau State, established a task group tasked with ensuring that internally displaced people return safely to their ancestral homes.
The task team was tasked with determining the prerequisites that would facilitate the returnees’ resettlement and making sure security measures were implemented.
The local government areas of Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Riyom, Mangu, and Bassa are the impacted communities that will be resettled.
Eight weeks were allotted to the committee to finish the task. According to Pam, the plan for the IDPs’ phased relocation was to guarantee a smooth and tranquil reintegration.
He said the resettlement would begin with IDPs whose ancestral homes had not been destroyed by bandits.
He said that those whose houses were still standing but without roofs would follow after the government made the decision on what to do.
He said that with the determination of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, the people were very willing to go back to their homes as everyone was enthusiastic.
“The relocation will be done in phases. The immediate assignment is to provide security for those whose houses are intact but were afraid to go back because of the security situation.
“Those whose houses are probably standing but there are no roofs, we will take that after we have submitted this interim report to the government.
“We will do it in such a way that the governor will be comfortable implementing his plans for the people.
“From the assessment we have done, the level of destruction is massive, but nothing is impossible with commitment.
“We believe that from the determination of Governor Mutfwang, we know that it is possible,” he said.
Pam stated that the committee was getting support from the locals and from the local government chairmen of the affected areas
The support committee’s visit during its evaluation tour of displaced communities, according to the chairman, gave them a positive picture of the people’s willingness to go back to their homes.
Pam mentioned that there are authorities in place to deal with illegalities, including the illegal occupation of abandoned dwellings.
“If there is any illegality, we will make sure the law takes its course.
“If you occupy a place illegally, we will make sure the people who are entitled to the land get a fair hearing and justice.
“No one should resist what the government wants to do because due process will be followed, and everything will be done within the ambit of the law,” Pam said.
