Following the incessant killing of Plateau natives and the recent killing of 13 others in Bokkos LGA of the state by suspected herdsmen, Gov. Simon Lalong has directed the Commissioner of Police to get the Fulani leaders to produce the perpetrators as they are not ‘spirits’.
In a press statement by the Director of Press Affairs to the Governor, Makut Simon Macham, described the governor’s reaction to the issue when he hosted stakeholders at the Government House Jos, including the Fulani community where he insisted that the perpetrators must be fished out immediately.
According to the statement, the governor “expressed anger over the incident which he said will not be allowed to degenerate further and make nonsense of the efforts put in to restore peace to the state, insisting that nobody is above Government”.
He said: “how can they say that people are killed and there is no arrest. Are those killing others spirits? I don’t think you can kill 15 human beings and claim you are spirit and there is no arrest. Commissioner of Police, you should take the community leaders and the Ardos with you so that they can tell you those behind these killings. By the time you go to the cell, you will bring out those people that are doing it. If you want to give evidence, give it to the commissioner of police. We are not afraid of criminals.”
While praising some Fulani leaders for their efforts, he also acknowledged the fact that there were bad eggs around and asked for the immediate arrest of such.
“Some community leaders and Ardos have done their best but within us, there are criminals. We must expose them no matter how high. If you are one of them, you better take yourself to the police station. The Army is here, Police, Civil Defence, DSS, Operation Rainbow. I want those people today. They should not sleep in their houses. By the time they are arrested, we will solve this problem”, the Governor said.
According to the statement, the Commissioner of Police, Isaac Akimoyede, had earlier briefed the Governor on the crises and the efforts to contain it, explaining that he had held a meeting with the community leaders last Saturday based on intelligence where he warned against any breach of the peace.
“Since I have been in the state since February, no event of this magnitude has happened. We have been investigating the incident in Mangun and then this. We cannot continue in this situation in the State. The security agencies have resolved that those people killing must be arrested no matter how highly placed. Peace must return to this state as we cannot continue in this situation. If anyone has grievances, he should come up and say it so that we can find a solution, not to take the laws into his hand and kill. We will not allow it” the CP said.
He assured the Governor that the security personnel has been deployed in the troubled areas to forestall any spread of the crises beyond the initial areas.
