More troops and equipment are on the way to address the insecurity situation in Plateau State, according to Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff.
This followed after over a hundred people were killed by terrorist attacks on Christmas Eve that targeted over twenty localities in the state.
Speaking Sunday night on Channels Television, Lagbaja stated that either Sunday night or Monday morning the soldiers would come in the state.
He said, “I have reeled out our plans for 2024 for Plateau State. The troops that we are deploying to Plateau, are on their way to Plateau now.
This night or first light tomorrow, they should be on the Plateau. We are sending more equipment to enhance the efficiency of the troops.”
In response to the claims of fresh attacks in the state, the Army Chief said that during his visit on Sunday, he was not given any such information.
He related incidents in which a local government chairman and a few citizens had sent off false alarms.
Lagbaja said, “The GOC brought up a situation where a chairman of a local government alleged that two communities were under attack and he sent troops there and it turned out to be false.
“Troops have received false alarms and so many other reports that are not true. I just came back from Plateau, I did not get the report of a renewed attack from anywhere. ”
Lagbaja, however, faulted calls in some quarters for Plateau State residents to bear firearms, noting that doing so could lead to anarchy.
He said, “I do not support that. I think that is a call for anarchy. The Nigerian Army is the peoples’ Army. It is organised, equipped, and funded with people’s funds. When we have a situation where people freely use arms, then it becomes a lawless state.
“I must tell you unequivocally that the military is equal to the task on the Plateau. What happened was a political, wrongly managed conflict that snowballed on Christmas Day, and we are working to address it going forward. ”
He assured all that the Army would intensify efforts to ensure peace returns to troubled parts of the country in 2024.
“In 2024, I am promising Nigerians that troops will redouble their efforts and we will expand the frontiers of peace and stability across the country, ” Lagbaja said.
Lagbaja; Air Marshall Hassan Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff; Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, Chief of Naval Staff; Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence; and Dr. Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, arrived in Jos, the capital of Plateau State.
They are scheduled to tour the impacted communities of Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi, where bandits attacked and murdered more than a hundred people on Christmas Day.
They are visiting the attack location one day after the Senate called them in response to a motion of pressing concern regarding the killings that was made by Senator Diket Plang (APC, Plateau Central).
Apart from the military heads, the Red Chamber also invited the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi; and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
The gunmen had stormed Ndun, Ngyong, Murfet, Makundary, Tamiso, Chiang, Tahore, Gawarba, Dares, Meyenga, Darwat, and Butura Kampani villages in the Barkin-Ladi, Mangu and Bokkos areas of the Plateau State, where they burnt houses and shot residents.
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