Herdsmen killing: Taraba loses confidence in troops

 

The Taraba state government has raised the alarm that it no longer enjoys the confidence of the federal government security apparatus deployed to the state.

The Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Dan Bala Abu, who spoke with journalists on Friday in Abuja, said that although there was relative peace now in Taraba, the state government did not have confidence in the security apparatus of the federal government to maintain peace and security in the state.

He said that the people were continually losing faith in the ability of the present crop of security personal deployed in the state to conduct their affairs in a just and equitable manner.

For instance, he said that the people of the state were not satisfied with the way the military posted to quell the security crisis in Taraba state were harassing, disarming them and even collecting their kitchen knives while the attackers wielding sophisticated weapons like AK-47 were allowed to go on a killing spree.

“What we are saying is that even with the relative peace we are enjoying now, we still do not have confidence in the military.

“We are saying that we have lost confidence in the military because nothing has been done to all our complaints made that people were being disarmed and that the military are discriminating in the way they doing it.

“They collect their kitchen knives from them while they leave the other persons, who are carrying AK-47. So where is the justice in this matter, that why we are saying that we have lost confidence?

“We have the right to say that the people that were posted to restore peace is doing what is expected of them, that they are biased. It is left for them to find out what is wrong and do what they have do to correct the wrongs being done,” he said.

There have been allegations that the Taraba state government has not shown willingness to cooperate or interface with the security agencies deployed there to deal with security crisis.

However, some top state government officials who preferred to remain anonymous said that the state governor, Darius Isaku had written several letters to the Federal Government, including heads of security agencies involved in the operations in Taraba state.

The source who source also said that state governor has made a written complaint about the unsatisfactory role of commanding officer of the 83 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col Ibrahim Babatunde Gambari.

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