The security agencies in Plateau and Taraba States have formed a partnership to forestall the escalation of last week’s violence that hit Wadata, a border village between the two states.
“Security agencies of the two states have taken extreme measures with the sole aim of ensuring that the violence does not spread,’’ Plateau information commissioner, Abraham Yiljap, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Tuesday.
Capt. Salisu Mustapha, Media Officer of the Special Military Task Force maintaining security in Plateau, had confirmed that nine people were killed in the Wednesday’s attack on the village located in Wase Local Government of Plateau.
He also said that investigation had commenced to unravel the attackers.
Yiljap, who reviewed the security situation in the affected area, told NAN that the synergy between security agencies in the two states was a proactive step to ensure that the violence was contained.
“As we speak, the police commissioners, the directors of the state security services, as well as the STF in Plateau and the military formations in Taraba are putting heads together.
“What they want to do is to ensure that miscreants do not take advantage of the situation to cause more confusion.
“They also want to ensure stability so as to avoid panic among the civil populace,’’ he said.
Yiljap however said that the situation had remained “very calm’’ in the last 48 hours, and expressed government’s determination to “allow peace to continue to prevail’’.
“There has been no report of any fresh incident since the one of Wednesday, but we are not leaving anything to chance.
“We are also engaged in advocacy for peace building to boost mutual confidence necessary for harmony among the populace,’’ he said.
The commissioner however said that all the security agencies had sufficient men and materials to tackle any eventuality.
He advised residents of the affected areas to quickly report any suspicious movement around their communities to the security agencies.
He also cautioned against rumour mongering that could spark unnecessary fear and anxiety.