Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, alongside his counterparts in other states and Vice President Kashim Shettima, paid homage to President Bola Tinubu at his Bourdillon home in Lagos on Tuesday to mark the festive season.

This is despite the Christmas Eve attacks in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau by suspected herdsmen who killed 162 residents and injured 47 others.

Peoples Gazette had earlier reported hearing from security and local chiefs that the attackers executed a string of coordinated attacks on at least 12 communities spanning both local council areas.

However, 48 hours after the attack, with corpses littering the state, no arrest of the culprits has been made. The state’s chief security officer could be seen in a viral group picture of himself and his colleagues with the president and his vice.

The governor, who spoke on a Channels TV programme on Tuesday, said terrorists had occupied some schools in the past years.

He said, “As I am talking to you today, in Barkin-Ladi Local Government, schools have been occupied by these terrorists for some years now. Not less than 64 communities have been displaced, and the lands have been taken over by these marauding terrorists. I will be talking to Mr President on this.”

Earlier, Mr Mutfwang vowed to proceed with a planned Yule jam amidst rising fatalities from the weekend-long assault on Plateau communities, telling The Gazette the deadly rampage won’t alter his government’s schedules because it did not affect the state capital Jos.

As the attacks were underway, the governor posted a video on his X (formerly Twitter) handle announcing December 31 and January 1 for an upcoming party that would feature Wyclef and M.I. Abaga, a Nigerian entertainer from Plateau. M.I lamented the violence and prayed for victims in an X post on Monday.