Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang on Wednesday dismissed insinuations that the state was witnessing a new wave of violent attacks and killings.
He was reacting to the attacks by armed men that claimed eight lives in Dafo and Kwata communities in Bokkos local government area on Tuesday evening.
He made this known while speaking with journalists on Wednesday during a biennial marksmanship classification exercise conducted by the 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army at its headquarters in Bassa LGA, Plateau State.
The governor, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Security and Internal Security, Brigadier General Gagji Shippi (retd.), said: “I don’t think there is an increase in insecurity in Plateau. The killers of Kwatas and Dafo are a single event after such a long period of time. We did not experience this type of attack until yesterday, so I would not say that there is an increase.”
The incident occurred in Bokko local government on Tuesday evening when gunmen entered the town and opened fire on innocent villagers, killing eight people in the two affected communities.
Shippi said the attack left seven dead and an unknown number injured. He also announced that an investigation has been opened into the murders.
“We are examining the problem to find out what the problem is and find solutions and we need to be able to catch it early before it gets worse,” he said.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the spokesman of the 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army, Aliyu Danja, during the event, explained that the second classification exercise of the Nigerian Army is a bi-annual exercise in all formations and units of Nigeria. The army personnel throughout the country.
He noted that the second planned classification exercise of the 3rd division is designed to assess the serviceability of the arsenal of the Nigerian Army and at the same time test the effectiveness of the weapons handling skills of the troops and also to check the combat readiness of the troops.
“Furthermore, the exercise serves as a way for troops to hone their marksmanship skills to ensure minimal casualties and ammunition wastage when deployed in combat or internal security operations.
“Furthermore, the firing classification exercise serves as a means to foster mutual and cordial interagency relations with sister security agencies through new firing exercises where heads of security agencies, officials of the government and traditional rulers, retired senior officials, and members of the media participate in the exercise.
“The participation of security agencies and other guests is desirable as it strengthens cooperation between security organizations in Plateau. The involvement of traditional leaders and civil society in the shooting exercise was designed to allow them to feel our weapon and also to promote cordial civil-military relations and cooperation with the general public and get an idea of the military experience.
