The Special Military Taskforce code named Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), saddled with the responsibility of maintaining peace in Plateau State, on Tuesday blamed elites in the state of manipulating and misguiding youths into perpetuating violence.
Commander OPSH, Major General Augustine Agundu, made the disclosure in Jos at a youth summit organised by OPSH and Civil Military Relief Initiative to foster unity and peaceful coexistence.
Agundu said within his five months as OPSH Commander, he was able to interact with different groups (ordinary/elite) and he understood the true situation of things.
“My deduction here on the Plateau is that the youth have been manipulated and misguided into violence.
“Some mischief makers are exploiting the vulnerability of the youth population to unleash mayhem on law abiding citizens,” he stated.
The Commander said, according to UNICEF figures, 45.8 percent of Plateau population are youth under the age of 30 years.
According to him, with almost half of the population being youth, it therefore means that the youths should be prepared to take up leadership responsibilities and not indulge in the act of violence.
“Some claim to be representing you, but in truth they prosper in atmosphere of chaos and bloodletting”, he explained.
“May I arouse your consciousness and urge you to never allow yourselves to be used as agents of disintegration.
“This crises on the Plateau has lasted for too long and must stop now if we all agree in unity of peace purpose,” he added.
He said, “An average Plateau youth is energetic, vibrant, hardworking, focus and result oriented.”
Agundu urged them not to allow anybody to belittle their capacity to positively change the society.
He appealed to them not to indulge in drugs, stating that the crises is perpetrated as effect of drug consumption.
The Commander expalined that the summit by OPSH, is a non kinetic approach to entrench enduring peace in Plateau.
According to him, he convened the meeting so that eyeball to eyeball, the youth who have bore the brunt of most crises, and were most often used to foment the trouble to understand that it would take them no where.
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