Eighteen days after the Christmas Eve attacks on over 20 communities of Barki Ladi, Mangu and Bokkos local government areas of Plateau State, the police command has arrested eight suspects over the killings of nearly 200 persons in the state.
The police public relations officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Alfred Alabo stated in a press statement issued to newsmen in Jos.
However, stakeholders who reacted to the report in a series of chats with LEADERSHIP Friday yesterday, described the police report as a mockery of the massive killing of innocent people by militias in several villages in the state.
The North Central coordinator of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) Mr. Steve Aluko, in his reaction said the police should tell the public where this eight suspects were arrested, whether from the communities or from the forest.
Aluko also asked for the identities of those suspects arrested because, according to him, there are complaints and protest from the members of the communities that those the police claimed to have arrested were the youths protecting their communities from further attacks by the armed militias.
He also wondered why the police said only eight suspects were arrested considering the magnitude of the destruction of lives and property so far.
Aluko added that it shows that the police are not doing their work and warned that they should be very careful not to provoke another cycle of violence by the way and manner they are mismanaging the trust and confidence of the people.
Aluko further argued that the essence of policing is to prevent crimes and not to wait until casualties are recorded, pointing out that it also goes to show clearly that the current security architecture has failed and the best way out of this quagmire is community policing and state police.
Also speaking to our correspondent in Jos, the secretary general of Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives, PIDAN, the umbrella body of over 54 ethnic groups in Plateau state, Comrade Nanle Gujor said they are not satisfied with the number of arrests made so far by the police .
According to him, if truly the eight people that were arrested by the police were the real suspected armed militias they will be in the position to give more revelations concerning the killings on the Plateau.
“How can the police say only eight people were arrested out of the thousands that carried out the attacks? It means the police are not doing their job. PIDAN is not satisfied with the conduct of the police during and after the attacks,” he said.
Gujor said those allegedly arrested were local youths trying to protect their communities.
“The police went and arrested those protecting their communities and said they have arrested the perpetrators of the heinous act.
“Government has failed in their responsibilities of protecting lives and property and the people have the right to defend themselves since government has failed them,” he said .
The Plateau State chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Alhaji Mohammad Nura Abdullahi, spoke in similar vein.
According to him, “An attack that left over 300 persons dead and after three weeks the police are saying only eight suspects were arrested is totally rubbish and unacceptable.”
