Tobias Sylvester
The Nigerian Army denied allegations that troops of Operation Safe Haven negotiated with bandits to avert attack on a village in Basa, Plateau State.
KanyiDaily recalls that an insider had revealed that gunmen suspected to be bandits had written to the villages, asking them to inform the soldiers to leave their location as they planned to attack the community.
The bandits were said to have threatened that if the Nigerian troops didn’t leave, “they would be the first to be attacked.”
However, in a statement on Friday, the Military Information Officer, Major Ishaku Takwa refuted claims that the gunmen asked the troops to vacate the area ahead of the planned attack.
In the statement titled, “Re: Gunmen ask troops to vacate Plateau community ahead of planned attack,” the army also denied negotiating with the criminal elements.
It reads, “Operation Safe Haven has noted an online report in circulation on social media alleged that gunmen asked troops deployed in an unspecified village in Bassa to vacate the community ahead of planned attacks.
“It was also alleged that the troops went on to negotiate with the gunmen to avert attacks on the said village.
“While OPSH would not want to join issues with this merchant of falsehood, it is however instructive to state that the report is unsubstantiated, laced with falsehood and fictitious imagination of the author.”
KanyiDaily had also reported how bandits took over the vast hectares of land belonging to the Nigerian Army in Niger State.
