ABUJA—Defence headquarters said, yesterday, that it had no plans to dislodge people from Fulani-dominated communities in Jos, Plateau State, but to flush out terrorists who killed scores of innocent citizens a fortnight ago.

Chief of Policy and Plans, Defence Headquarters, Air Vice Marshal Dick Iruonagbere, who gave the clarification in Abuja yesterday, said the military was embarking on the action to protect the state and Nigerians from perpetrators of the killings and destruction.

He said: “There have been certain misconceptions about the request by the Special Task Force, STF, directive that some villages relocate. The issue is that there are threats by terrorists to attack Riyom Local Government Area.

“The one that took place about two weeks ago is something never seen before, where terrorists dressed in military uniform and fatigue attacked and killed innocent people, women and children. Reconnaissance carried out from the air and on ground confirmed that many of these terrorists are still in the mountainous areas.

Their hide-out
“They were detected in the following villages: Mahanga, Kakuruk, Kuzen, Maseh and Shong. Having been identified, the STF approached the Plateau State government to provide a temporary camp for internally-displaced persons, IDPs, to enable the operation to dislodge these terrorists. Camps have been provided in Riyom and Barkin Ladi councils.

“The Defence HQ is not doing this because we think the Fulani are the culprit. We are not after the Fulani. That is why we are saying the people should leave so that we can take out these criminals and terrorists. I repeat, we are not out to wipe out the Fulani.”

Plan, operations
On what would be done in terms of compensation for property belonging to the communities damaged in the event of an assault, Iruonagbere said: “We are a professional force that have been involved in peacekeeping operations in many parts of the world and we are bound by international rules relating to operations.

“That is why we are not using enormous but minimum force involving light weapons. So there is no need to destroy property. Ordinarily, by going to this length to explain what we plan to do, we have compromised the operations, but the kind of terrorist threat we are facing in Plateau State is an unusual threat.”

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“The one that took place about two weeks ago is something never seen before, where terrorists dressed in military uniform and fatigue attacked and killed innocent people, women and children. Reconnaissance carried out from the air and on ground confirmed that many of these terrorists are still in the mountainous areas.

Their hide-out

“They were detected in the following villages: Mahanga, Kakuruk, Kuzen, Maseh and Shong. Having been identified, the STF approached the Plateau State government to provide a temporary camp for internally-displaced persons, IDPs, to enable the operation to dislodge these terrorists. Camps have been provided in Riyom and Barkin Ladi councils.

“The Defence HQ is not doing this because we think the Fulani are the culprit. We are not after the Fulani. That is why we are saying the people should leave so that we can take out these criminals and terrorists. I repeat, we are not out to wipe out the Fulani.”

Plan, operations
On what would be done in terms of compensation for property belonging to the communities damaged in the event of an assault, Iruonagbere said: “We are a professional force that have been involved in peacekeeping operations in many parts of the world and we are bound by international rules relating to operations.

“That is why we are not using enormous but minimum force involving light weapons. So there is no need to destroy property. Ordinarily, by going to this length to explain what we plan to do, we have compromised the operations, but the kind of terrorist threat we are facing in Plateau State is an unusual threat.”