Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
Following a two-month extension the ongoing Operation Ayem Akpatema (Cat Race) in Taraba State, Governor Darius Ishaku has called on the operatives to be more civil in their dealings with the civilian population as they were meant to protect and not to oppress the people.
Senior Special Assistant Media to Governor Ishaku, Mr. Bala Dan Abu, made the call yesterday in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun.
Dan-Abu said the governor noted that the operation so far was characterised by a lot of complaints about assaults, intimidation, extortion and collusion with armed bandits to unleash mayhem on the people who were supposed to be protected by the operatives.
Governor Ishaku assured that the state government would continue to give maximum cooperation to the operation to consolidate on the success recorded so far in a bid to restore lasting peace to the state.
“We believe that the Defence Headquarters has very good reasons to extend the operation in Taraba and we assure them of our continued cooperation and support.
“We would however urge the operatives to be more civil in their dealings with the people because the kind of reports we have received so far are very unfortunate. These need to be corrected for the people to have confidence in the exercise”.
Governor Ishaku further urged the people to give the operatives as much cooperation as possible to address the security challenges currently bedeviling the state.
It would be recalled that shortly after residents and officials of Takum and Ussah local government areas complained bitterly against soldiers carrying out the operation in the area, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) came out to accuse the military of colluding with the armed bandits to fight the people and urged the people to rise up and defend themselves, stirring different reactions across the country.