By Chijioke Kingsley
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Division Nigerian Army and the Commander, Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), in Plateau State, Maj.-Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, has again engaged the locals of Barkin Ladi communities in a peace meeting to avert another round of killings.
The stakeholders meeting was summoned as a result of a recent killing which occurred between Nafan village in Fan District and Doruwa Babuje in Ropp District of Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of the State leading to the death of a 17-year-old Fulani herder and 35 cows.
Usually when an incident like this occurs, a reprisal attack is followed as a revenge, leading to deaths of many and destruction of properties.
This has been the reason for the incessant attacks and killings in the State spanning over two decades.
To forestall a perceived reprisal however, Gen. Abubakar on Wednesday and Thursday, held an accelerated emergency meeting with the Fulani communities in the area as well as the community leaders of Barkin-Ladi, appealing to them to hold their peace as the military task-force under his command will fish out the killers of the 17 years old boy whose 35 cattle was also rustled.
Recall that the killing of the cattle boy occurred on Tuesday night causing tension in the area, our correspondent had narrated.
Consequently, the State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang in response to the ugly incident, has tasked security operatives to go after the killers and bring them to book.
In a statement signed by the Governor’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Gyang Bere, the Governor said the incident undermines government efforts in ensuring peaceful coexistence.
“The Governor while sympathizing with the deceased family, condemned in totality the acts of lawlessness and said the unholy act undermines government’s effort in entrenching harmonious living among all and sundry in the State.
“My administration will no longer tolerate brutal killings of innocent citizens either in their farms or in any parts of the State”, the statement reads.
