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DHQ Reads Riot Act To Militias

By  Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos
09 May 2015   |   11:00 pm
THE Director of Defence Information (DDI) has warned members of the public not to encourage illegality under the guise of operating militias, adding that once such groups are formed, they become difficult to control.
olukolade

Olukolade

THE Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Chris Olukolade, has warned members of the public not to encourage illegality under the guise of operating militias, adding that once such groups are formed, they become difficult to control.

Olukolade condemned situations where militias turn wild and ambush troops on patrol. “Not just organise ambushes and kill soldiers, they also abduct them. And then soldiers are found, not just dead, but also mutilated. We should not encourage illegality in the name of promoting militias. We have seen other places where it was started; it becomes difficult to manage,” he said.
    
The DDI said this when he paid a one-day working visit to the 3 Armoured Division and stopped over at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Plateau State Council Secretariat Friday.

He disclosed that higher authorities are very much interested in investigating the incident in Wase, judging by pronouncement in the National Assembly.
    
According to him, the quest to dig further into the Wase episode has attracted some global attention, which he said has sent a signal that people should be careful in managing issues.
 
Olukolade pointed out that security agencies are interested in ensuring that the nation is secure, adding that all they call for is cooperation. He cited the North East where the military is working with people who have volunteered to support the mission, saying,
“They are under control. They do not constitute another threat to security. And where a militia group chooses to constitute a threat to the security of all, we should not encourage it.”
  
He said: “When this incident happened, some people decided to syndicate stories that are already biased from their outlook. That is why I say let me not compound it further by giving some elements that controvert what had been syndicated because clearly those stories were syndicated with a view to achieving certain perspectives of the stories, quite often which is not correct.
   
“It is not correct that it was a revenge mission. The military authorities will not tolerate or encourage the abuse of the rights of Nigerians. And let it not be imagined anywhere that there is an orchestrated plan to eliminate anybody. The military and security agencies are created essentially to protect Nigerians and they would do that.”
     
He said if anything happens that is contrary to what they know to be the norms of the profession it will not be condoned or encouraged but will be duly dealt with.

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