Residents of Plateau State have been warned to be on the alert and report any suspicious persons to relevant authorities to avoid any breach of the fragile peace as fleeing Boko Haram members from the North East are seeking refuge in the state.

The Commander of Operation Safe Haven, OPSH, Major-General Rogers Nicholas, gave the charge, weekend, in Jos while speaking with journalists during his maiden media briefing on current security developments in the state. He said the call became necessary to prevent the fleeing Boko Haram members from settling among the people in the state and pose security risk.

He told the people to be on the alert and look out for strange faces among them. He said: “I have established a monthly media briefing to keep Plateau citizens abreast of issues regarding peace and security in the state under my command.

“I want to use the opportunity to let Plateau citizens know that they need to be on the alert and be very vigilant because there are feelers that members of Boko Haram who have been displaced from the North East might make Plateau State their safe haven to hide.

“With such information, residents need to be very vigilant at all times and report to security agencies as soon as they notice strange fellows around them.”

Speaking on the increase in crime rate in Jos city, he said: “We have arrested over 120 suspects in the last few weeks and we have handed them over to the police for full investigation.

“Though we believe that the rise in crime could be attributed to mass unemployment of youths in the state, police investigation will reveal the true identity of the criminals.

“All we have to let the people know is that they should be vigilant at all times to avoid these criminals hiding among them.”

On the rumour of assassination plot targeted at top citizens of Plateau State, the commander stated: “In the last few days, the social media has been awash with rumours that some top citizens of the state have been listed for assassination. The rumor is not true.

“We have conducted investigations into the rumour and we are still conducting more investigations, but so far, we have not found any truth in the rumour.

“However, due to current security situation in the state, we have taken measures to spoil the plan of these criminals. One of such measures is that we have banned the use of tricycles at night from 9pm till 5am.

“This is because, the use of tricycles at night is posing serious security risk to us in the state. In addition, we will begin to enforce a total ban on motorcycles within Jos metropolis.

“There is a law banning the use of motorcycles in this state, the law has not been fully enforced, we shall ensure full enforcement of that law immediately.

“We are also going to drive market women from around the Terminus market, because the population of the market is increasing and such huge population can be of great security risk, considering recent experience of repeated bombing of the market.

“We are going to increase the regular stop and search routine on roads in the state. The actions we are taking should not be seen as abuse of rights of citizens, especially the commercial Tricycle users, but should be seen as action taken in the interest of safety of lives and property.”

•Text courtesy of Vanguard. Photo shows Boko Haram terrorists.

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