According to the military task force in charge of keeping security in Plateau State, its campaign against bandits there is showing promising signs of success.
The spokesman for Operation Safe Haven, Major Ishaku Takwa, said a situation where the bandits would chase locals and force them to leave their communities would no longer be tolerated in any part of the state while speaking with reporters in Jos on Monday after the taskforce’s troops killed eight bandits in a clearance operation they carried out in Wase Local Government Area on Sunday.
He observed how much destruction the robbers’ actions had brought about, especially in the countryside.
According to him, the bandits would not be entirely vanquished until the clearance operation against them, which he claimed began last Saturday, is completed.
Takwa said, “Our men, in conjunction with the local hunters, conducted a clearance operation in Sabongari general area of Wase LGA.
“The exercise started on Saturday, and on Sunday, eight of the bandits were killed during the operation.
“In the past, we had done similar exercise,s and the people were going about their normal businesses, but it appears that the bandits have regrouped and are disturbing the peace in the local communities.
“So the troops are going to continue with the clearance operation, which had begun until we clear the communities in Wase and other areas of the presence of the bandits.”
Takwa enlisted the help of the people to help the military task group accomplish its goals.
He added, “We have established Field Operational Base in Wase. But we also discovered that some locals are also conniving with the bandits to sabotage our efforts.
“Some of them who have infiltrated the communities also act as informants to the bandits. These are some of the challenges. But we are not relenting because all we need is information, and we have asked the local communities to fish out the bad elements in their midst and also give us timely information for us to protect the people. But so far, I can assure you that our efforts in the fight against bandits in the state are yielding positive results.”
