Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The Benue State Police Command has confirmed one person killed along the border of Guma Local Government area of Benue and Nasarawa States.
Newly appointed Commissioner of Police in Benue Fatai Owoseni confirmed this during his maiden media briefing yesterday, disclosing that the deceased was one of the officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who were on an official assignment in the area.
While he noted that details of the attack were still sketchy, Owoseni explained that, from what he had gathered so far, the attack was carried out by armed bandits.
The Commissioner, who also disclosed that two policemen were killed recently in Ukum Local Government Area of the state, stated that the problem around the Ukum and Katsina-Ala was a purely communal clash and an act of banditry which has been traced to militia leader Terwase Akwaza (alias ‘Ghana’).
“What is happening in Ukum and Kastina-Ala is a pure act of banditry and communal clash which some criminals are taking advantage of. Most acts of banditry taking place in that axis is traced to ‘Ghana’.”
Owoseni lamented that criminals in the area were taking advantage of the clashes, disclosing that it was for that reason that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, deployed special forces to the area.
He said that some persons had been invited for interrogation even as investigations are ongoing to unravel the cause of the clash, but regretted what he described as a conspiracy of silence in the area.
The Commissioner urged the media to partner with police in the task of ensuring the security of the country warning that, “if media keep reporting negative things about the country, we might be preventing investors [from investing] in the country.”
“The polity is already heated and it behoves on us all as citizens of this country not to heat the polity further. We should be wary of spreading falsehood, especially in the media. We are all stakeholders in this country and there is nothing as good as living in peace. We have an obligation to ensure that we report good news.”