Francis Ayagah
Makurdi / Minna – Rampaging soldiers on Thursday morning set the Benue State town of Naka on fire.
Naka is the headquarters of Gwer-West Local Government Area.
soldiers set ablaze over two hundred houses in the town, where one person died.
A source in Naka town disclosed that the figure of the houses set ablaze could be as high as three hundred.
He explained that all the houses on the way to the rice mill in the town were set ablaze by the irate soldiers before they left town.
The lone death recorded during the incident was a sick elderly man that could not run for his life and was burnt to death in one of the abandoned houses.
The action of the soldiers left Naka a ghost town as residents fled when they learnt that soldiers were on their way to Naka “on a revenge mission”.
But the Nigeria army has denied knowing the soldiers that perpetrated the act.
They stormed Naka, the seat of Gwer West Local Government Area, at about 11:00 a.m. and began burning houses to the apprehension of residents, Francis Ayagah, Chairman of the local government said.
Ayagah said the soldiers were on a reprisal attack over the killing of one of their colleagues near the community on Wednesday.
“A soldier was killed by hoodlums yesterday, but I met with the brigade commander around 4:30a.m. today,” Ayagah said of the possible motive of the arsonists.
“He gave me a list of suspects and we arrested five of them overnight. It was while we were trying to take them to the brigade that soldiers stormed the town and started burning houses.
“A whole part of the town has been completely burnt down and we’re appealing for help and understanding from the soldiers,” he added.
The troops were said to have spent over two hours burning down properties in Naka, which is about 45 kilometres from Makurdi, the state capital.
Ayagah said homes of citizens were mostly affected rather than those of the suspected killers of the slain soldier.
The Nigerian army has ended ‘Exercise Ayem Akpatuma‘ in which troops were drafted to combat gunmen who have killed hundreds of villagers in the state since January.
Gwer West was attacked a little over a week ago with over 25 people reportedly killed.
The soldiers on rampage were believed to be amongst those embedded with mobile police officers in ‘Operation Zenda’.
The incident is coming on the heels of allegations by a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. T. Y. Danjuma that the army had been compromised and were being used to unleash mayhem on innocent citizens of the country.
Danjuma had also called on communities to defend themselves from herdsmen attacks or die one after another.
A source in Naka lamented that soldiers that were expected to defend the people had become the same ones that were seen to be breaking the law.
He noted that sometime back a soldier was killed in the area and even though the army denied knowing the soldier they picked his body and never handed it over to the police as the case should be.
The source said the army was yet to do anything in connection with cries by communities in Naka over the takeover of their communities by herdsmen.
He stressed that most of the suspected herdsmen who attacked the communities were always dressed in army uniform.
He advised the army to be impartial in its dealings with Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic affiliation.
Efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Moses Yamu, to comment on the invasion were futile.
Yamu refused to pick calls or respond to text messages.
But in a statement issued by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, and Spokesman, 707 Special Forces Brigade, Nigeria Army, Makurdi, Major Olabisi Ayeni said the perpetrators of the acts were not men of the Nigerians army.
He explained that at about 3:30pm on Wednesday, troops of the Special Forces deployed to the area noted the absence of Private Danlami Gambo who was seen receiving a phone call.
He stated that Gambo had gone in search of network but didn’t return.
Ayeni observed that they went in search of the soldier and discovered blood stains on a path that led to a fresh grave.
According to him, on exhuming the grave, the corpse was that of PTE Gambo.
The army spokesman said the army had arrested an undisclosed number of persons in connection with the death of the soldier.
Ayeni, however, said the army did not get news of the arson committed by the suspected soldiers until about 4pm.
He said: “At about 1600hrs today (Thursday) information received by TPS revealed that some unknown persons were seen burning houses at Naka.
“Troops were dispatched to the location but they did not make contact with the perpetrators.”
Meanwhile, the Police Command in Niger on Thursday said that a police Sergeant, Jibril Abubakar, was killed and his rifle taken away when gunmen attacked its Divisional Police Station at Kutigi in Lavun Local Government Area of the state.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Muhammadu Abubakar, disclosed this while addressing newsmen at the command headquarters.
He said that the gunmen stormed Kutigi police station about 3.50a.m. on Thursday and shot sporadically, but were repelled by the guards on duty.
He said that the Commissioner of Police, Dibal Yakadi, had constituted a seven-man committee led by ACP Abdullahi Tahir to probe the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.
He said that the command promised a N500,000 reward to anyone with useful information that could lead to the arrest of the gunmen.
The command solicited the support of residents for vital information to assist the it in apprehending bad elements in the state.
Herdsmen Kill Four Construction Workers In Plateau
In a similar development, herdsmen on Wednesday killed four construction workers at Angwan-Rogo village in Jebu-Miango area of Bassa, Plateau State.
Sources from the village said that the workers were fetching sand for an ongoing construction work when the gunmen attacked them.
Confirming the attack, Terna Tyopev, spokesman of the Police Command in Plateau, said that the attack took place “around 11a.m.”
“Yes, we received information of an attack on Angwan Rogo village; we can confirm that four persons were killed by the gunmen.
“We can also confirm that the men were labourers excavating sand for their construction work when they were attacked,” he said.
Tyopev, who claimed that the attackers were herdsmen, identified the deceased as Adam Sunday, 38, Jatau Akus, 39, Chonu Awarhai, 39, and Marcus Mali, 22.
He said that the command had mobilised more personnel to beef up security in the affected area, adding that the corpses had been deposited at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos.
The police officer said that investigation had commenced into the incident, and vowed to arrest those responsible.
He advised Plateau residents to report any suspicious movement to the security agencies.
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