Nigerian Army: Plateau Massacre Was Carried Out To Embarrass Tinubu’s Govt

The Nigerian Army has publicly stated that the Plateau massacre, which left over 200 dead, many injured, and others displaced on Christmas Eve, was a planned attack to embarrass and make Tinubu’s government look stupid.

Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, has expressed shock that the incident that occurred in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Mangu local government was an attack with no reason. During his speech on Channels TV on Monday, he however emphasized the need for technology in terms of military aircraft to cover the distance of the military base to the remote areas where the attackers carried out their terror attacks.

It is worth noting that the nearest military base to Bokkos’s local government, particularly, is the Operation Safe Haven troops set up to mitigate insecurities and their perpetrators in Jos. However, the distance from the military base to Bokkos community is 1hr15 minutes (69km) drive while the base to Mangu is 55km, with the Kerang Airforce base a 30-minute drive away from Mangu respectively. See images 1 and 2 for more perspective.

The CDS, however, points out that when addressing the public doubt on the military’s capacity to protect the public due to criticism surrounding the non-swift response of troops to mitigate the terrorists, he also made it known that the security challenges the military faces are political.

In his words, he said, The challenges we are facing are political, these are when decisions need to be taken only when a directive is given. It is a political decision, not a military decision before anything can be done.

CDS Christopher Musa further expressed one key challenge that the military faces. He said, “There are few ways the enemies have against them. There are people they leverage on.

While he didn’t say who in particular, he assures Nigerians that the troops are trying their best to secure Nigeria and Nigerians as he encourages the government to provide adequate support that encourages stationed pastoralists to conduct their activities without having to clash with farmers’ activities on farmlands.

Read: UK Enacts Ban on Foreign Students’ Family Entry Following Revelations by Nigerian YouTube

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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