…Lalong imposes 24-hour curfew on Jos-North LGA
…As IGP orders coordinated response to protect citizens
Barely hours after the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Jos-North, Bassa and Jos-South LGAs of Plateau State, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, said that 33 victims of Saturday’s attack on travellers through Rukuba community had been rescued, with 20 suspects arrested.
The Force Public Relations Officer, (FPRO), Frank Mba, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Recall that the State governor, Simon Lalong, has further imposed a 24-hour curfew in Jos-North LGA, where the skirmishes that claimed many lives and left several injured took place.
The governor, who disclosed this through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr. Makut Macham, in Jos, equally said his decision was necessitated by security reports, “which indicate rising threats to the safety of lives and properties within the local government area”.
The I-G had ordered the immediate deployment of the Police Intervention Team to Plateau for on-the-spot assessment and to enhance coordinated response to protect the community and boost public confidence in the affected areas.
He said the team would be led by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Finance and Administration, Sanusi Lemu, who is also the coordinating DIG in charge of the North-Central geo-political zone of the country.
The operatives are expected to provide additional investigative, intelligence and forensic support to the Plateau State Police Command in the on-going investigations and rescue operations.
The IGP, while condemning the incident, has called for calm and assured victims and relatives of the attack that the Police are working with the military, other security forces and the State Government to ensure that all perpetrators of the unfortunate incident are brought to book.
The IGP enjoined citizens in the affected area(s) to support the security forces deployed to the hotspot by providing useful information that will lead to the arrest of other perpetrators of the crime and forestall any further attack.
