Plateau residents in fear as soldiers pursue B’Haram

The Police and Special Task Force in Plateau have
put their operatives in Jos, the state capital, on high
alert following reports that members of the violent
Islamic sect, Boko Haram, fleeing from military
onslaught in Borno State have been sighted in Bauchi
and other neighbouring states.
There was high presence of riot policemen as well as
increased security checkpoints in Jos and Bukuru
metropolis on Sunday.
Most churches witnessed low turnout as the
increased security presence and extra search created
panic among residents.
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Olakpe, told our
correspondent that the police were not leaving
anything to chance in the bid to ensure that terrorists
fleeing from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, did
not find a safe haven in Plateau.
“We are beefing up security and all the security
agencies in Plateau are cooperating to ensure that the
state is kept safe. You know that a state of emergency
was declared in three states and Plateau escaped
because intelligence report had indicated that the
state was relatively safe,” Olakpe said.
The commissioner said he was also cooperating with
officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service to secure
the borders and ensure that illegal immigrants did
not take advantage of the situation to enter the state.
Meanwhile, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang said
he would continue to support President Goodluck
Jonathan to ensure permanent peace in the country.
Jang stated this in an interview with journalists at
the Yakubu Gowon Airport, Haipang, Jos, shortly
after his arrival from an overseas trip.
Jang assured the residents that security agencies in
the state were capable of keeping the state safe from
any type of insurgency and urged the people to
cooperate with the security agencies.
He said the President, as the chief security officer of
the country, must have had all the security reports
before declaring a state of emergency in the three
states.
The governor said, “The President knows better
because he is the Chief Security Officer of the nation.
What we need to do is to support everything that he
is doing so that we can bring total peace to our
nation.
“The state of emergency, like we had in some local
government areas in the country, is to ensure that the
military personnel are given the free hand to be able
to bring total peace.
“We hope what the President has done will now bring
total peace to Nigeria and all the states so that the
desire dividends of democracy are provided to
Nigerians”