Indications emerged on Friday that the
Federal Government might declare a state of emergency in five states in
Northern Nigeria, as a last-ditch measure to check the rising killings
and insecurity.
The states are Borno, Yobe, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau.
A pointer to this emerged as President
Goodluck Jonathan held an emergency meeting with security chiefs and
some other top government officials in his bid to address the spate of
insecurity in many parts of the country, with the latest being the
killing of 47 policemen and 10 State Security Service operatives by the
Ombatse militia in Alakyo forest in Nasarawa State on Tuesday.
They also destroyed nine patrol vans.
Jonathan, who rushed back to the country
from South Africa late on Thursday, was said to have reviewed reports
from the security chiefs on recent violence in Baga and Bama in Borno
State; Alakyo Village in Nasarawa State; and Agatu Local Government Area
of Benue State.
Among those at the meeting that lasted
several hours were the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Said; Chief
of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice
Marshal Alex Badeh; Director-General of State Security Service, Ita
Ekpenyong; representative of the Chief of Army Staff, Maj-Gen. Emmanuel
Bassey; and Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.
The IG wore a black arm band to the meeting as a sign of mourning for the slain policemen.
Others at the meeting were the National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); Minister of Police Affairs,
Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd.); Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Pius Anyim; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief
Mike Oghiadomhe.
At a point, Olubolade, Anyim and
Oghiadomhe stepped out of the venue wearing gloomy looks while Jonathan
and the security chiefs continued with the discussions.
By the time the meeting finally ended, none of the government or security officials was willing to speak with journalists.
They also shielded Abubakar from journalists who sought an interview with him on the killing of the policemen.
He simply described the killing as “a sad development.”
A source at the meeting however described it as “a stormy session.”
The source said “far-reaching
decisions,” some of which would be made public soon, and others which
would be kept under wraps for security reasons were taken at the
meeting.
Olubolade, who was moved to tears, managed to answer reporters’ questions on the murder of policemen.
•State of emergency
Asked to confirm speculations that
government was considering the imposition of a state of emergency in
some states, he said, “That is not within my purview. They (security
chiefs) have the right to call for whatever they want. At the end of the
day, the President will take a decision.
“It was an emergency security meeting at
the instance of Mr. President. He had to cut his journey short because
of insecurity and loss of lives; he was supposed to have been in
Namibia. So, he summoned the security agencies to have a quick meeting
with us and as you can see, they are still there. The Chief of Defence
Staff and other service chiefs are still with him.
“He is looking at how we can put an end
to all these troubles we are having and I think that at the end of that
deliberation, you will get to know the outcome.”
He advised policemen against revenge, saying such would not help the nation.
“The security agencies particularly the
police will not want to go and revenge. It is not going to help us
because they are supposed to protect lives and property. Going to
revenge will not douse tension. It will bring about a lack of confidence
in the system. So, we will strictly discourage that,” he said.
On the allegation that policemen killed
nine of the Ombatse cult members in Nasarawa State first before they
retaliated, the minister said, “I wouldn’t know what is true about that.
All I know is that the police have a duty to perform and as such, they
must not be afraid, they must be equipped, they must be trained, they
must do their job because they are under instructions. The police will
not just wake up and pick their leaders if nothing has gone wrong.
“The populace must know that anybody can
be brought in by the police for interrogation depending on the
intelligence the police get; and that is what happens elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, security sources said on
Friday that government was considering the military option to dislodge
members of the Ombatse cult from their hideout in Alakyo forest in
Nasarawa State.
This follows the inability of the police and SSS to accomplish the task.
•Death toll now 47
Saturday PUNCH learnt that 28 riot policemen who survived the attack were released by the militia and returned to their base in Akwanga.
Some of them returned to base without their rifles which they lost to their attackers.
The Public Relations Officer, Nasarawa
State Police Command, Michael Ada, confirmed the return of the policemen
to one of our correspondents on Friday.
He said that 17 others were still
missing, adding that they had been presumed dead since they were yet to
be seen two days after.
“The 17 missing policemen are presumed
dead because they have been missing for over 48 hours. So this brings
the number of the dead to 47. But the search and rescue teams are still
searching for the missing officers and they have yet to report back to
the headquarters,” Ada explained.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abayomi Akeremale, also confirmed the return of the 28 policemen.
Akeremale told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lafia that some of the policemen held hostage by the group during the attack were released on Friday morning.
He said 17 corpses of the slain officers
were yet to be recovered. He explained that a total of 93 policemen
were deployed for the operation, out of which 43 were suspected to have
been killed.
Akeremale said that a suspected member
of the militia had been arrested and was in police custody, adding that
investigations on the incident were going on.
Akeremale also said he would visit the
Squadron 38 Mopol Base in Akwanga to appeal to spouses and children of
the slain policemen, who blocked the Akwanga-Lafia highway on Friday in
protest over the killings.
•Protesters block expressway
Meanwhile, no fewer than 200 people
travelling through Nasarawa State were on Friday trapped in a village
near Akwanga, in an attempt to avoid a roadblock by protesting women and
children.
NAN reports that the women and
children were protesting over the killing of policemen and other
security agents at Alakyo village by the Ombatse militia on Tuesday.
Following the blockade, vehicles tried
to go through bush paths but the protesters blocked the paths, saying
they were enforcing a restriction of movement through the state.
Some of the travellers told NAN that
they were trapped in a remote village off Akwanga, near a local
government area primary school and had no protection.
They said the women, who blocked the
road, carried big sticks and were already burning car tyres on the bush
paths to demonstrate their anger and dismay over the killings.
Commercial transporters and private vehicle drivers were trapped in the blockade.
One of the passengers, Mrs. Victoria
Dzeremo, trapped with her daughter, Erdoo, said their vehicle, a
commercial bus, had been stopped from further movement few kilometres
off Akwanga.
“We have been here in this bush for more
than an hour; these women have blocked the road and are demanding for
government’s explanation over their husbands’ killings.
“They are here with their children, we
have been begging them since to allow us passage but to no avail, the
situation is quite serious.
“Now, they have started burning the
nearby bush and we are afraid the fire might escalate and affect the
vehicles,” Dzeremo said.
The Police Public Relations Officer
in-charge of Nassarawa State, DSP Michael Ada, said Akeremale had
directed the Area Commander to go and persuade the protesters to open
the road.
NAN learnt the protesters insisted that
they would only leave the road when their delegation to Governor Tanko
Al-Makura returns and gives them a feedback on government’s position.
No comments:
Post a Comment