[ICYMI] Youths attack soldiers in Plateau, destroy checkpoint, 3 vehicles
Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos
Youths in their hundreds Sunday, attacked the Special Task Force (STF) checkpoint and vandalise three vehicles parked at the task-force Sector Nine Unit in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The reason for the attack, according to the spokesperson for the task-force, Captain Umar Adams, was that two men from Sopp Community in Riyom LGA, volunteered to assist the STF in reviving an abandoned well located in the said community, but lost their lives in the process and on hearing the news of the incidence, the youths in the community went on rampage accusing the STF of murder.
“We wanted to revive the abandoned well which was dogged since 1985, so one of the natives said he can assist to excavate the waste in the well, but that we have to pay him, so we agreed: but when he entered the well, he did not come out and another native said he is an expert and entered to find out why the other person did not come out: he also did not come out, alarmed by the incident, the youths in the community went on rampage accusing the soldiers of forcing the men into well that led to their death,” Adams explained.
He said with the instruction of the Sector Nine Commander, the soldiers maintained clam refusing to fire at the rampaging youths.
“We are here to maintain peace so we cannot fire at them; the soldiers received instruction not to shoot at the aggrieved youths so we stood and watch them destroy our properties because properties can be replaced but firing at them, the lives that would be lost cannot be replace.
“You know we have been arresting criminals in that axis for the past one month especially in Sopp community, anytime we are going on patrol, they have an informant that will always tell them that the military is coming and then they will flee, so the criminals in Sopp have been waiting for this type of opportunity to attack our soldiers and destroy our road block; for almost one hour the rampaging youths blocked the road, halting vehicular movement,” he explained further.
The spokesman for the task-force however said that normalcy has returned to the area and that the community has written an apology letter to the STF.
Our correspondent reports that two of the bodies of the dead have been deposited at the Plateau hospital mortuary with other five injured youths receiving treatment at the hospital.
