Nassarawa Massacre: Police begin manhunt for cops killers
“In one day, these criminals have thrown up a huge number of widows, several orphans and aged parents whose lives have suddenly been thrown upside down. Fishing out these hoodlums is a job that must be done.
There is no alternative. We are determined to get to the root of this and all of us in the Nigerian Police, officers and men, serving and retired, are united in this fight against a common enemy.” These were the words of a high-ranking member of the Nigerian Police as he told Sunday Sun in an emotion-laden voice last night that the Nassarawa massacre that wiped out about 120 policemen during the week would go unpunished.
The officer who said he wept when he saw bodies of his men and colleagues in body bags said the police had deployed hundreds of men and officers from across its formations across the country to Nassarawa to fish out the perpetrators of the mass murder. “The Nigerian Police has commenced a massive deployment of
Police Mobile Force from its different squadrons, officers from the Counter Terrorism Units (CTU) and a large numbers of undercover agents to Nassarawa to ensure that those cop killers are rounded up. Our first mission however is to first reassure citizens of their safety and then to provide an enabling environment to carry out our investigation. AIG Michael Zoukumor, in charge of Zone 4, comprising Benue, Plateau and Nassarawa states has been moved to Lafia to coordinate operations.”
Our source disclosed that the force was still reeling in the pain of the assault on its men and psyche and so has enough anger to fuel its investigation. “ Fishing out these criminals is a task that must be accomplished by all of us because what happened on Wednesday was not an attack on just the police as an institution, but one on our collective will and soul as a people. If the police are being dismembered and we let the murderers go scot-free, the dangers that are ahead can best be imagined.” The senior officer said the Force could expect a massive brain drain because officers would no longer feel protected by the society they are employed to police.
“If policemen start feeling that the society is against them, there will be dire consequences. The officers will leave in droves. How will you recruit into an unprotected Force? How can you expect demoralized cops to function? What happened on Wednesday portends great danger. It is ominous and the only way to restore confidence of policemen is to find these killers.”
Asked if the police had the support of other government institutions to carry out the task at hand, our source who had been in the police for almost 25 years, sighed and said: “ Without the support of the politicians in this country, you can’t do anything. We need Nigerians to help us whip the politicians into line to work with us on this, because we all are at risk.”
