The Plateau State Government has denied reports that the Department of State Services deliberately sabotaged its efforts to respond to recent violent attacks on some communities by gunmen, which claimed several lives in the state.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Samuel Jatau, the government described the reports as “misleading, erroneous, and aimed at causing disaffection and acrimony” between the government and the DSS.

The government praised the DSS as a “most reliable partner” in the fight against insecurity, stating that the agency has assisted the state in several ways to curb insecurity.

The government advised the public to ignore the reports, which it said were far from the truth.

The statement read, “Reports monitored on Facebook and other social media handles have a misleading story purporting that the Department of State Services seized weapons procured for the Plateau state neighbourhood watch agency -Operation Rainbow.

“The report further insinuated that the seizure was deliberately done to stall the agency’s response to the recent violent attacks on some communities in the state. We wish to state clearly that this is far from the truth . At no time has the Department of State Services, even in error, stalled or undertaken any action to scuttle government efforts to fight insecurity in Plateau state.

“To the contrary, the Department has been a most reliable partner and has helped in several ways to assist the state to curb insecurity .The public is, therefore, advised to ignore those reports as there are misleading, erroneous and are aimed at causing disaffection and acrimony between the government of the state and the Department of State Services ”

Similarly, the Plateau State Police Command also debunked a post alleging that passengers were being intercepted and attacked by religious extremists along Rukuba Road, Jos.

In a statement on Tuesday signed by the Police Public Relations officer, Alabo Alfred, the command described the claim as “fictitious and misleading” and aimed at plunging the state into chaos.

The police assured the public that Rukuba Road was calm and peaceful, with free-flowing traffic and no harassment or hostility.
The statement read, “In a bid to ensure that crisis merchants do not misuse social media to cause unnecessary tension in the State, the Plateau State Police Command through its reliable social media monitoring mechanism has stumbled on a fictitious and misleading post by an anonymous source, who attempts to raise a false alarm and tension, claiming that passengers are being intercepted, profiled and attacked along Rukuba Road, Jos by a group of religious extremists.

“The Command strongly refutes the claim and views the post as a deliberate attempt by purveyors of falsehood and enemies of peace in the State to blow the fan of resentment amidst the current security situation of the State for their personal gains.

“Rukuba Road, where the poster is pictured as apprehensive, is calm and peaceful. There is a free flow of traffic without hindrance, and everybody is going about their lawful business without any form of harassment or hostility. It is, however, ridiculous for the authors of this post to think that they can plunge the State into chaos with such a baseless and empty post that has no substance or reality in it.

“Members of the general public are hereby urged to disregard and jettison the deceptive post as it is capable of igniting ethno-religious fracas in the State. Our social media monitoring experts have already swung into action to unmask the author(s) of the obnoxious post to bring them to justice.

“The Plateau State Police Command remains committed to its constitutional responsibility of maintaining peace and orderliness in the state.”

Both statements urged the public to disregard the false claims and warned that the authorities would take action to unmask the authors of the posts.

The police command also provided emergency contact numbers for the public to report security concerns, including 07059473022,08038907662,08075391844,09053872296.

The denials come amid heightened security concerns in the state, with recent attacks in Bokkos and Bassa Local Government Areas resulting in numerous deaths and displacements.

The government and security agencies have been working to address the security situation and maintain peace in the state




https://punchng.com/plateau-defends-dss-amid-sabotage-allegations/