Get Guardian on GooglePresident Bola Tinubu has asked families affected by the March 2026 attack in Anguwan Rukuba, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, to forgive him for not visiting their communities after the incident.
Tinubu made the appeal on Saturday at the All Progressives Congress (APC) North-Central presidential campaign rally in Jos.
The President said his previous visit to Plateau was limited to the airport, preventing him from reaching the affected communities.
“When I last visited the other time, I was limited to the airport. Forgive me if you didn’t see me in the hinterland. But I saw the devastation; I got the report from the governor. I saw horror in the faces of our people.
“But since then, that has changed; we are forging together,” he said.
He assured residents that affected communities would be rebuilt to enable displaced persons to return to their homes.
Tinubu, who condoled with families who lost loved ones, said too many lives had been lost to attacks in Plateau State since 2001.
Calling for unity among residents, he said differences in language should not divide the people.
“I have directed all the security agencies to take decisive action and sustain peace and stability on the Plateau.
“What we should be getting is prosperity, not havoc, not crisis. Our government is not elected to inflict wounds on one another or to bury people. We have to lift people up from penury to prosperity.
“One thousand forest guards are undergoing training right now. You will feel them; you will see them. You will feel secure in your villages and communities,” he added.
The President also said surveillance cameras had been procured as promised, assuring residents that his administration was working to ease their suffering.
The March 2026 attack on Anguwan Rukuba left at least 20 people dead and several others injured.
On April 2, Tinubu met with affected families at the Jos Airport, where he expressed condolences and assured them that such an incident would not happen again.
His failure to visit the affected communities during that trip drew criticism, prompting his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, to explain that the President had been unable to do so because of a scheduled meeting with the President of Chad.
