At
least three army officers have been killed by gunmen in Barikin Ladi Local
Government Area of the state, the army said Saturday.
The soldiers were attached to Operation Safe
Haven, a multi-security taskforce maintaining peace in the state.
Augustine Agundu, a major general and
commandant of the unit, confirmed the killings to journalists at the unit’s
headquarters in Jos.
He said the soldiers were all killed while in
action in Barikin Ladi LGA.
“What I want to say categorically is that the situation
in the Plateau is becoming more precarious than expected,” he said.
“Since the unfortunate incident in June this
year, with all the effort being made to bring understanding, the situation is
getting out of hand.
“Often times, we are having a lot of crises
where deliberate and well planned crises are organised against innocent people
so that peaceful coexistence would be disrupted. This is no longer acceptable.
“I condemn all the act of violence that is
going on in the Plateau. We have been engaging constructively with leaders at
all levels; including religious, political and community leaders.
“I have lost three men. They were killed in
action as a result of cycle of violence that resurfaced again. The worst of it
is the proliferation of arms in the Plateau that is out of magnitude. There is
no nation where you use crime to fight crime.
“I am saying this emphatically that enough is
enough. I have declared that enough is enough. What happened in Barikin Ladi
would not repeat itself again. I have locked down Barikin Ladi completely. No
human being is going to cause trouble again.
“Whatever
that is going on in Barikin Ladi, Riyom, Bassa and Bakkos LGAs, that is enough.
That is the message I want to send out. I have said it in the meeting we have
just had that all leaders should sit their youth to civility and decorum so
that the ordinary man could live peacefully.
“Plateau is a state of peace and tourism and
asked them that they should return to that slogan,” he said.
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