The Taskforce on Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Plateau has visited displaced communities to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the areas.

Air Commodore Chuwang Pam (Rtd), the task force chairman, said the visit was to confirm the data presented to the task force by crisis-ravaged communities.

Mr Pam assured that the task force would do its best to return people who left their domains or ancestral homes due to the crisis that ravaged those places.

The chairman stated that Governor Caleb Mutfwang had mandated them to go around, get data, identify the communities, and then see how they could bring the people back.

He said the committee would work with only committed community leaders in the affected places.

“The committee divided itself into three groups: some went to Bokkos Local Government Area (LGA), others are in Barkin Ladi, and we are here in Mangu.

“In Mangu, we have Putshit, Panyam, Mangu town, Mangu Halle, Sabon Kasuwa and Bwai districts.

“There are communities in these districts where we want to confirm what happened there,” he said.

Markus Artu, chairman of the Mangu LGA Transition Implementation Committee, said people were happy because they looked forward to receiving the committee.

Mr Artu pledged his support to the task force to help in the process that would lead to the safe return of the people displaced by the unfortunate incidences last year.

“That for us is very important, particularly with the rains around and the need for people to go back to their ancestral homes to engage in their source of livelihood, which is farming,” he said.

Mr Mutfwang inaugurated the task force on March 25 to facilitate the safe return of IDPs to their ancestral homes.

The task force was to establish the requirements for resettling the returnees and ensure security measures were in place.

According to the terms of reference, the communities to be resettled were Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Riyom, Mangu, and Bassa LGAs.

The committee was given eight weeks to complete the assignment.

(NAN)