IG to Nasarawa elders: Help fish out killers
The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, wants elders and eminent citizens of Nasarawa State to collaborate with the police in order to fish out the perpetrators of Tuesday’s killing of policemen in Alakyo village.
Abubakar made the call, yesterday, when he visited widows and family members of the slain officers in Lafia, the state capital, just as the widow of one of the victims, ACP Momoh, said she still could not believe her husband was dead.
The IGP, who was accompanied by the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade, described the killing of the officers as “callous” and had never been heard in the history of the force.
He disclosed that some officers were still being held hostage by the suspected cult group, adding that efforts were being made to ensure their release.
“We are making every peaceful effort to ensure that some of our men still being held hostage are released unhurt,” Abubakar said.
Abubakar expressed optimism that with the level of dialogue at the state level and in some other quarters, the officers would soon be released.
IGP, M D Abubakar
On his part, the Minister of Police Affairs, Olubolade, said such ‘barbaric’ act of snuffing lives out of security personnel, who are meant to safeguard lives, is unacceptable in a decent society.
“Somebody somewhere is causing havoc for whatever reason and the society must not allow that to continue,” he added.
Olubolade assured that the police would dig deep in order to unravel those behind the killing of the officers and bring them to justice.
Governor Umaru Al-Makura, while welcoming the IGP and his entourage, commiserated with President Goodluck Jonathan and the security high command over the killing of the officers.
Al-Makura took time to explain the excesses of the ‘Ombatse’group in the past and the events leading to the Tuesday killing of the officers, saying the group had been proscribed since January 2013 and was carrying out its activities unlawfully.
He maintained that a substantial amount of Eggon leaders and elders were not happy with the activities of the group “but could not talk to them for fear of the sophisticated weapons at their disposal.”
He said all efforts were being made to recover the bodies of the remaining slain officers, adding that the area of the incident was still volatile.
The IGP and his entourage visited three survivors of the attack where they were receiving treatment at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.
The IGP and his entourage visited three survivors of the attack where they were receiving treatment at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.
Meanwhile, the widow of the Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, Momoh, who was killed during the attack, Mrs. Stella Momoh, told Sunday Vanguard that she could still not believe that the husband was dead.
She thanked the IGP for the visit and expressed optimism over the assurance by the Police High Command to take care of their children.
REDEPLOYMENT
Also, at the weekend, Abubakar, the IGP, carried out the redeployment of officers and men of the Mobile Police Unit, undercover operatives and the counter terrorism unit of the force.
The move, it was learnt, was to engage a shift in paradigm for effectiveness, re-assure citizens of their safety; stabilise the security of states; provide a safe and conducive environment for effective policing; and to provide additional manpower and support for the Nasarawa State Police Command.
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