The police have launched 24hour crime prevention and visibility patrols nationwide to prevent a repeat of last week’s killings in Benue and Rivers States.
It is one of the several measures announced yesterday by the Police headquarters following Friday’s meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Police Inspector General Ibrahim Idris.
Special Police Joint Intelligence and Investigation Teams were also constituted and dispatched to Benue and Rivers States to get to the roots of the killings.
Seventeen were shot by suspected cultists at Omoku, headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local government area of Rivers State on their way back home from the crossover church service last Monday, while 20 were gunned down by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Guma and Logo government areas of Benue State.
A Tiv socio- cultural organisation – Mzough u – Tiv – took exception to the statement made on Friday by Mr. Idris in which he described the Benue killings as a “communal crisis”.
President- General of Mzough u – Tiv, Chief Edward Ujege, said Idris’ statement was not only misleading, it was a mockery of the death of the children and women killed in cold blood by Fulani herdsmen.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue who is still grieving over the incessant attacks by herdsmen in the state said yesterday he was withdrawing from all political activities until the brains behind the bloodletting are apprehended and brought to book.
Detailing the IGP’s directives in a statement yesterday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, a chief superintendent of police (CSP) said the Commissioners of Police in charge of Benue, Rivers and other contiguous States to the two States and their Supervising Assistant Inspectors General of Police and their personnel are on “red-alert with immediate effect to nip in the bud and prevent further attacks on innocent Nigerians by suspected herdsmen and other criminal elements in the mentioned states.”
He said the Deputy Inspector General of Police Operations has been “dispatched to Benue State to muster, coordinate and supervise the implementation of the new security strategies put in place by the Force to put an immediate end to the senseless killings and violence unleashed on innocent Nigerians by suspected herdsmen and other criminal elements in the two States.”
Besides, police aerial surveillance helicopters, five units of Police Mobile Force; and Police Special Forces were “deployed along with additional conventional Police Personnel, the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Police Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD) and Special Police Joint Intelligence and Investigation Teams to Benue and Rivers State to work with the Police Personnel on ground – Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID) Personnel. This is to bring new impetus to the efforts of the Force to nip in the bud further attacks in the mentioned states.”
He said the Assistant Inspector General of Police in Zone 4 Makurdi and Zone 6 Calabar “have been mandated by the Inspector General of Police to convey stakeholders meetings in the affected states and also supervise the Police investigation and intelligence teams, and other Police Special Squads deployed by the IGP to the two States.”
The police ‘deeply’ commiserated with the governments and people of the two states over the killings and called for “calm and support for the police personnel deployed to sustain the normalcy that has been restored in the affected States.”
They implored the people to be “vigilant and security conscious” and promptly report suspicious acts or persons to the nearest Police detachment or station for prompt action to avert untoward incidents.