President Muhammadu Buhari has given the military 10 days to deal with the perpetrators of the ongoing massacre in parts of Plateau State.
The order followed reports of unprovoked attacks on natives by unknown persons in spite of the heavy presence of troops in the state.
Scores of the indigenes had reportedly been murdered in recent weeks as the perpetrators atre said to carry out their attacks in broad daylight, steal, kill, rape and destroy farmlands.
Communities in Riyom and Bassa Local Government Areas are worst hit.
In one of the invasions on July 31, five locals were reportedly killed while 85 buildings were set on fire at Jebbu Miango.
The army scrambled a rebuttal after some natives declared that Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Ali, the General Officer Commanding 3 Division in Rukuba, was on an “evil mission”.
Ali, Commander of the Special Task Force, Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), was accused of acting on an “order” to wipe out the Miango chiefdom.
However, it was gathered that President Buhari approved the special operation after a comprehensive security report by the office of the National Security Adviser’s.
General Ali conveyed the directive on Monday while addressing the troops deployed in Tangoron community in Riyom LGA.
“The Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari has asked us to gun down anybody seen carrying illegal weapon and we must carry out the order.
“Those people must be criminals. You have to go into the bush and clear them wherever they are hiding”, he said.
Ali further disclosed that the time frame for the operation is 10 days.
The GOC visited some areas in Miango and Biyei attacked by the killers. ##
