President Bola Tinubu met victims of Plateau state attacks on Thursday, April 2, at a hall near Jos airport, a location that prompted questions among concerned residents and Nigerians.
The Statehouse has now explained why the meeting took place there.
Source: Twitter
According to the presidential press release shared on Friday, April 3, logistical and scheduling challenges made it impossible for the President to meet victims in Jos township.
In the statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), Tinubu had earlier hosted Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in Abuja for a crucial bilateral meeting on security cooperation, which ran longer than expected and delayed his travel plans.
“President Tinubu’s itinerary for Thursday included two main engagements: receiving the Chadian President, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, and proceeding to Iperu, Ogun State. After Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s briefing, President Tinubu suspended the trip to Ogun. Overnight, the Presidential Villa made arrangements for the visit to Jos, with presidential assets quickly deployed. However, the President could not postpone the scheduled visit by the Chadian leader.”
“The President of Chad was at the Presidential Villa for a very important bilateral meeting focused on strengthening security collaboration between the two countries. The meeting ran longer than expected, affecting President Tinubu’s scheduled departure for Jos,” Onanuga said.
Upon arrival in Jos, logistical challenges forced President Tinubu to meet victims at a hall near the airport rather than in the town center. According to Onanuga, the Jos runway does not support night flights, making travel into the township risky and time-consuming.
“To ensure a timely engagement, state and federal officials brought representatives of affected communities to a hall adjoining the airport,” the statement said.
Onanuga noted that high-level security officials, including the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Inspector General of Police, who had visited Rukuba, the epicenter of the attacks, also joined the meeting.
President Tinubu, who then used the opportunity to console victims, hear their concerns, and engage with local leaders, assured the deployment of 5,000 AI-enabled cameras to improve security and invited community leaders to Abuja for further talks on ending recurring violence in the state.
“The President’s visit was not merely symbolic,” the statement said.
“It was a strategic, high-level engagement aimed at building sustainable peace with the people, not imposing it on them.”
“President Tinubu achieved the purpose of his visit, despite the naysayers’ attempts to ridicule it. He dropped an unmistakable message: sustainable peace must be built with the people, not imposed on them.”
Source: Legit.ng
