Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung has called on Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State to urgently change the security strategy in Mangu Local Government Area to prevent recurring killings in the area.
The Plateau-born politician made the call in a Facebook post on Wednesday following the burial of 24 victims of a recent gunmen attack in Kumbum District of Mangu LGA.
The ex-minister said he was heartbroken after watching footage of the burial, adding that the remarks by Mwaghavul Youth National President, Comrade Jonathan Kyesmang, at the ceremony “should not be dismissed as another emotional reaction to another attack.”
Dalung lamented that killings in the area have become a pattern.
He listed a series of violent incidents in Mangu since Governor Mutfwang assumed office in 2023: the prolonged crisis of May to July 2023 which “left hundreds dead and thousands displaced,” the September 2023 killings, the Christmas Eve attacks, the January 2024 violence including the Kwahaslalek massacre, the April 2024 killings around Kopnanle, renewed violence in June 2025, and “now another deadly chapter in August 2026.”
“These are only the major incidents that made the news. Behind them are countless smaller attacks, threats, displacement and communities living with the fear that they may be next.
“At some point, we have to admit that this is no longer simply a collection of unfortunate incidents. It is a recurring security failure,” he observed.
Dalung stated that Mangu is particularly significant to Governor Mutfwang, who served as Chairman of the council before becoming governor.
“I do not blame him for creating a crisis that existed before his administration. But after more than three years in office, it is fair to ask whether enough has changed in the way this crisis is being confronted,” he stated.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain said Mangu needs “permanent security presence in vulnerable communities, functioning early-warning systems built around local intelligence, rapid response to distress calls, protection for farmers and returning displaced persons, and prosecution of those responsible for these killings.”
He added that where the state “lacks the capacity,” the governor “must demand the necessary federal intervention without hesitation or political calculation.”
“The real measure of government is not how quickly officials arrive after people have been killed. It is whether they can prevent the next killing,” Dalung said.
Addressing the governor directly, the ex-minister stated, “This is Mangu. This is where your political journey began. These are your people. They deserve more than another burial. They deserve to know that their government can still protect them.
“Politics can wait. Appointments can wait. All the 2027 calculations can wait. Mangu people, or anyone else on the Plateau, cannot continue to pay for government’s inability to protect them with their lives.
“Please, Mr Governor, sit up and protect your people!”
He stated, “24 people should not become another statistic we mourn today and forget tomorrow. Mangu has buried enough of its people. Its communities deserve to live, farm and sleep without the fear of another night of terror.”
(The Sun)
