The True Story Behind Nasarawa massacre

Policemen who survived last Wednesday’s massacre in Alakyo Village, Nasarawa State yesterday alleged that the cultists had an upper hand over securitymen as a result of juju.

Over 100 policemen and 10 operatives of the Department for State Security (DSS) were killed when their convoy ran into an ambush by the Ombatse cult group members. The securitymen were headed for Alakyo to destroy Ombatse shrines, even as Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, blamed the massacre on failure of intelligence gathering. He spoke in Minna yesterday.

Also, the Deputy Force spokesman,. Frank Mba, said yesterday that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, appealed for patience and understanding.

Most of the survivors, according to the sources, said they were in the last vehicles in the convoy, but escaped when they realised that their colleagues in front were behaving like people under a spell.

“Each policeman had at least 30 rounds of ammunition, suggesting that, altogether, they had nothing less than 3,000 rounds. But for supernatural powers, there was no way over 100 trained men, including DSS personnel, could have been slaughtered like chickens, the casualty figure did not correspond with police firepower. Probably, the policemen were charmed by the cultists”, a top police officer rationalised.

One of the officers who led the botched operation, a Deputy Supritendent of Police (names withheld) had in 2010, participated in an attack and counter-attack course in Italy. As at press time, his corpse was listed among the missing ones.

A senior police officer blamed the failure of the operation on inexperience of the officers who authorised it. He stated that more attention should have been devoted to the planning, particularly with reports that an earlier operation suffered a similar fate.

“One very important issue in every operation is exit route. No experienced officer embarks on an operation without factoring in exit route. The absence of an exit route jerked up the casualty figures,” he said.

“We have at least 15 APCs (Armoured Personnel Carriers) in the Force Headquarters. We also have helicopters. Nasarawa State command could have simply loaned the helicopter for aerial surveillance and the APCs for the main operation,” the officer submitted.

In a related development, Gov. Aliyu at the weekend in Minna attributed the recent Nasarawa bloodbath to failure in intelligence gathering by the security agencies.

Speaking at the opening of the one-day Geopolitical Security Awareness workshop, (North Central Edition) in Minna, Aliyu noted that everyone involved in intelligence gathering know that what is required is silent, speed and surprise, but what happened in Nasarawa Eggon a few days ago was probably due to lack of commitment on the part of the professionals.

“I am sure that the people in Nasarawa Eggon got information that the policemen were coming and what I would have expected or what any intelligent person would have done was that in advancing people to the area, even if there were plans on the ground, they could even abort that particular exercise until a more appropriate time,” the governor stated.

He attributed the successful dislodgement of the Darul Salam in Mokwa, Niger State a few years ago to perfect security intelligence exhibited by the police and other security agencies. According to him, those who embarked on the exercise were from outside the state and did not know of their mission until they got to Mokwa, the scene of the incident to avoid leakage of information to those affected.

The governor suggested that the recruitment of people into the security services should be, overhauled to overcome the present security challenges confronting the nation with emphasis on intelligence gathering.

He noted that many people have been recruited in error into the security outfits of the nation as a last resort to secure a job.

“One of the fundamental problems is the recruitment into the security services especially the police. In more advanced societies, entry into the security services is by inclination, desire, personal interest or passion for the profession but not as a final resort to get a job,” he noted.Read more

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