President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday met with victims of the recent attacks in Plateau State at a hall adjoining the Jos airport, following logistical constraints that prevented him from visiting the affected communities directly.
President Tinubu’s Thursday schedule initially included receiving the Chadian President, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, and a visit to Iperu, Ogun State. After a briefing from Governor Caleb Mutfwang, the President suspended the Ogun trip to prioritise Plateau. Overnight, arrangements were made for his visit to Jos, although the bilateral meeting with the Chadian President ran longer than expected, affecting his departure time.
Upon arrival in Jos, logistical challenges arose. The road from the airport to Jos township takes about 40 minutes, and the airport runway does not support night flights due to the absence of navigational aids. These factors made it impossible for the President to travel into town, meet the victims on-site, and return to the airport before dusk. To address this, representatives of the affected communities were brought to a nearby hall to meet the President.
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Inspector General of Police, who had already visited Rukuba, the epicentre of the attacks. President Tinubu also deployed a high-level team, including the Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement, to Rukuba to stabilise the area and engage with the community ahead of his visit.
During the engagement, President Tinubu expressed condolences to the victims and assured local leaders of the federal government’s commitment to justice and ending the cycle of violence. He also announced the deployment of 5,000 AI-enabled cameras to monitor the city and improve the identification and arrest of perpetrators.
The President invited community leaders to Abuja for further discussions aimed at finding a lasting solution to the recurring violence in the state. The televised meeting was solemn and reassuring, boosting residents’ confidence and sending a clear message that sustainable peace must be built with the people, not imposed on them.
