Former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has averred that the ongoing crisis in Plateau State remains unresolved due to lack of information on what is causing the problems in the state.
While speaking as a guest on Arise News’ Morning Show on Tuesday, Ejiofor expressed grave concern over the deteriorating security situation in Plateau State, describing it as a crisis shrouded in mystery and worsened by conflicting narratives and government inaction.
Referring specifically to the recent wave of violence in Plateau communities, Ejiofor lamented that the perpetrators remain unidentified, with no clear understanding of their leadership, goals, or structure, thus making resolution extremely difficult.
The former DSS chief maintained that while the Service was not lacking intelligence to supply to the operations, Plateau state has become to the nation “because before you solve a problem, get a solution to the problem, you should be able to identify the causes of that problem”.
“What is happening in Plateau state seems to have overwhelmed everybody. Because, one, who are the leaders? They are not known. What are their aims and objectives? Nobody seems to know. We’re all speculating. Everybody hazards a guess. The governor will come, it’s ethnic cleansing. Others will come, it is an issue of land, and all these things. But I believe, too, that the state security service has a profile on some of these people, which should be shared. Commissions of inquiry have been set up. What has happened to those commissions of inquiries? What is the outcome of those inquiries? So these are major problems. We should be able to identify what the problem is before we start looking for solutions.”
He then advocated for the establishment of a “first line of defence” made up of retired security personnel, local leaders, and town union structures, who could be mobilised and armed under police supervision to support the overstretched national forces.
Ejiofor also posited that if communities got involved, they will be more committed. Citing examples of Plateau and Benue states, that have a reserve of retired officers, “you get them together, form a group at the local government level, at the state level, harness all of them, bring them together. They will be able to provide the intelligence in conjunction with the state security staff to fight this.”
On the growing threat of terrorism and kidnapping across the country, Ejiofor warned that criminal networks have evolved into profit-driven franchises, with ransom funds possibly being channelled to invisible backers rather than the visible abductors, adding, “so we need to identify the funders, people being all this”.
He concluded by warning that Nigeria must stop repeating failed strategies and start implementing policies backed by actionable intelligence and ground-level support.
“We cannot continue to do the same thing in the same way and expect a different result,” he said.
