The Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, has clarified the reason why he used an armoured personnel carrier during a visit to Angwan Rukuba in Jos North LGA on Monday.
The governor had visited Rukuba after suspected bandits killed about 28 people and injured several others in the community on Sunday evening.
He arrived with a heavy security presence, including an armoured vehicle, and began addressing the tense crowd that besieged his convoy.
Clips from the visit swiftly circulated on social media, generating wide reactions and heated debate.
Reacting to the backlash during an interview on Channels Television on Friday, the governor stated that he did not act out of fear.
He explained that he had been in Abuja for official engagements, including a high-level security meeting, when news of the attack reached him, prompting his immediate return to Plateau.
According to him, residents at the scene had refused to allow the evacuation of the victims’ bodies until he arrived.
“Unless they see the governor, they are not going to allow those corpses to be evacuated,” he said.
Mutfwang said that although he intended to drive straight to the scene, security operatives advised caution due to what they perceived as a potentially hostile environment.
“The security personnel have a duty to protect me, and if they assess that the situation they perceived was hostile, they had a duty to protect me,” he said.
The governor added that despite the risks, he insisted on visiting the scene.
“I could have stayed back until the whole thing had calmed down, but I insisted on going to the scene,” he said.
He further clarified that standing through the armoured vehicle’s roof hatch was primarily to enable him to address the crowd effectively.
“From the height I stood… it was for me to gain height in order to address the crowd,” Mutfwang said, noting that the residents later reassured him of his safety and urged him to come closer.
The governor also criticised what he described as a selective portrayal of the incident on social media.
If not for mischief, why are people not focusing on where I spent 90 per cent of the time with the crowd, seeing the corpses, appealing to people, calming people?
“You could see that social media can take a small portion and misrepresent it completely,” he said.
Mutfwang maintained that he felt safe among the people during the visit.
“I was comfortable with the people. I knew the people were not going to harm me, but the security had to do their assessment and evaluation,” he added.
