Plateau attacks: Defence Headquarters gives reasons for delayed response
The Defence Headquarters has blamed the delayed response of troops of the Nigerian Army during the carnage in Plateau State’s Bokkos and Biriki-Ladi Local Government Areas on difficult terrain and other factors.
Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of the state, stated on Channels Television on Tuesday that the response to the attacks should have been better.
“I wouldn’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” Muftwang explained. Certainly, the reaction time could be improved. There were distress calls made. Some responses would have been delayed due to a variety of factors, including the nature of our terrain.”
While responding to the allegation in a conversation with the Punch Newspapers, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, confessed that the forces received over 30 distress calls while the strikes were underway but were hampered by the challenging terrain and other considerations.
Edward added that the military was rejigging its strategy to ensure speedy intervention in the future.
He said, “The assailants took advantage of the relative peace that had returned to the state due to the military pressure of the past months. There were over 30 distressed calls from the communities when the attack was ongoing. Before troops could arrive at some of the locations, the havoc had been done.
“The combination of the difficult terrain and other factors played a role in delaying troops’ arrival at some of the locations.
“The assailants had intentionally planned to attack several locations at the same time to make it difficult for troops to reach there on time. The troop strategy is being rejigged to allow faster intervention in the future.”
Recall that the attacks that occurred on Sunday have claimed the lives of about 150 people, and over 10,000 have been displaced.
Amnesty International has called on the authorities to probe the failure of the security agencies to halt the attacks, which were carried out for several hours.
