There is an increased presence of security operatives on surveillance in Jos, Plateau State by the police and the Special Task Force in the state following reports that members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect fleeing the onslaught by the military in Borno and Yobe States had been sighted as close to Plateau State as Bauchi State.
There was an increased presence of riot policemen and security checkpoints within the Jos and Bukuru metropolises on Sunday, which in turn created panic among the residents of the two towns, resulting in low turnout in churches.
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Olakpe, said that the police were not leaving anything to chance in the bid to ensure that terrorists fleeing from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, did not find a safe haven in Plateau.
He said, “We are beefing up security and all the security agencies in Plateau are cooperating to ensure that the state is kept safe. You know that a state of emergency was declared in three states and Plateau escaped because intelligence report had indicated that the state was relatively safe.”
The commissioner said he was also cooperating with officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service to secure the borders and ensure that illegal immigrants did not take advantage of the situation to enter the state.
Meanwhile, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang has expressed his continuous support for President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure permanent peace in the country.
In an interview with journalists at the Yakubu Gowon Airport, Haipang, Jos, shortly after his arrival from an overseas trip, Jang assured the residents that security agencies in the state were capable of keeping the state safe from any type of insurgency and urged the people to cooperate with the security agencies.
He said the President, as the chief security officer of the country, must have had all the security reports before declaring a state of emergency in the three states.
The governor said, “The President knows better because he is the Chief Security Officer of the nation. What we need to do is to support everything that he is doing so that we can bring total peace to our nation.
“The state of emergency, like we had in some local government areas in the country, is to ensure that the military personnel are given the free hand to be able to bring total peace.
“We hope what the President has done will now bring total peace to Nigeria and all the states so that the desire dividends of democracy are provided to Nigerians”
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