Police Remain Cautious Over Fresh Plateau Crisis

The Nigeria Police Force is maintaining a cautious approach to the recent attacks in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State that has left at least 15 people dead and 78 houses razed.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), had also alleged that about about 2, 000 cattle were missing.

The MACBAN’s state chairperson, Nuru Abdullahi also noted that the June 8 attack was targeted at annihilating the Fulanis completely in the state.

But in what appeared as a reprisal attack on residents of the Sabon Gari community in Mangu LGA, armed men on June 9 reportedly killed eight persons including an eight-month-old baby. Farmlands were also allegedly destroyed.

Despite the number of lives lost and the property damaged in the renewed violence, Police authorities are yet to make any categorical statement or give an account of what transpired.

There is also no official information on the number of casualties that the incident had caused.

The Plateau State Police Command, when contacted by THE WHISTLER on Monday, refused to speak on the matter.

The spokesperson, DSP Alabo Alfred said he would rather issue an official statement to that effect than comment randomly. But up till today, he has not issued a statement and THE WHISTLER did not get any response from him as at press time.

Similarly, the spokesperson of the Zonal Command 4, comprising Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue States, David Kaavanger said the situation is still under investigation as operatives are currently gathering intelligence on the matter.

“Three weeks ago, we were in Plateau where the AIG, Musa Haladu went to supervise the issue themselves. We were in Mangu and Barakin Ladi to have a closed-door meeting with the governor of Plateau state and so far, so good, the AIG is working with the commissioner of police of the state to ensure that the issue is resolved,” Kaavanger told THE WHISTLER on Monday without explaining what the issues are.

Recall that this newspaper had reported how the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew, for the second time, on Mangu LGA following a house-to-house attacks by assailants.

The insecurity in Plateau, specifically in the Mangu LGA, and other neigbouring areas of the state has deteriorated with over 200 residents killed and an unconfirmed number displaced in the last six months.

Security expert, Onyekachi Adekoya who spoke on the menace, maintained that the Federal Government needed to take a different approach to resolving the upsurge of insecurity across the country.

He noted that relying on the military is not the solution to internal insecurity, stressing that the country must embrace state police.

Adekoya said, “It is state police. We just have to take a local approach to state policing. Until we take policing locally, this matter cannot be resolved because Nigeria cannot be effectively policed from Abuja.

“Once you take away the local initiative of the people, then they will have to wait for Abuja. If Plateau State had a state police, for example, we will hold the state government responsible for security.”

Reacting to the temporary relocation of the army to Mangu LGA to quail the crisis, the security expert disclosed that in Bassa LGA , insecurity thrives despite the presence of the 3 Armored Division in the area.

“Until we restructure our approach to security, these unfortunate incidents will always continue. The danger is that they are becoming wild widespread and widely dispersed,” he said.

The security expert also believes that the criminals recognise the limitations of the security agencies, the criminal justice system, the court, and the slow delivery of justice resulting in a high incentive to commit crime and get away with it.

To Adekoya, Nigeria will continue to react to incidents of violence as its best approach to tackling insecurity if the authority fails to fix its institutional and structural problems by taking a more precautionary posture than reactionary.