Army Parades Plateau Massacre Suspects

The Special Military Task Force, Operation Save Haven, on Wednesday paraded three suspects in connection with the latest killings in Plateau  State that sparked national outrage.

The three men were said to have been captured at Gashish District in the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects were paraded in Jos, alongside 14 others who were arrested over the killings in which people described as herdsmen were believed to have massacred over 200 people, mainly locals and farmers, between Saturday night of June 23 and Sunday dawn of June 24

The News Agency of Nigeria  reports that 11 villages in the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area and its environs were affected in the onslaught in which property worth billions of naira were also destroyed.

Parading the suspects, the spokesman of the STF, Major Umar Adams, told reporters that the suspects were arrested while they had in their possession sophisticated rifles.

Adams said that two of the suspects were Fulani herdsmen and one Berom, a minority ethnic group in Plateau.

Adams said the suspects were arrested in the course of the attacks.

“We all know that some days back, some villages in Barkin Ladi were attacked and these three suspects were arrested in connection with that.

“As our men were repelling the attacks in those areas, we arrested these suspects with four rifles, three locally made guns and one AK-47.

“The other 14 people were arrested in connection with civil unrest recently experienced in the state.”

Adams said that the suspects were still being investigated and that more arrests would be made.

(NAN)