20th June, 2018
A member representing Udege/Loko Constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Alhaji Mohammed Okpoku, has called on warring parties in his constituency to sheath their swords.
Okpoku made the appeal on Tuesday while fielding questions from newsmen in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.
He called for calm, peaceful co-existence and warned against reprisal attacks.
Unidentified gunmen allegedly killed eight Agatu people and destroyed properties worth millions of Naira on June 2.
It was learnt that the Aisa and Aza villages of Agatu community were attacked during the attacks.
The lawmaker decried the skirmishes and appealed to the affected communities in the area to remain calm and be law abiding in the interest of peace.
Okpoku said that government was taking measures to prevent further mayhem in the area.
The lawmaker also sued for peace between farmers and herdsmen in the interest of peace and national development.
“Honestly, the security challenges in my constituency are beyond imagination.
“Since I assumed office, there are security threats and challenges here and there. I want to use this medium to totally reject that act; I condemn that it in totality,” said legislator.
Okpoku said that peace is a necessary requirement for the development of any nation, hence the need for farmers and herdsmen to continue to live in peace and tolerate one another irrespective of their affiliation.
While urging the people to report any suspicious movement of persons or group of persons to appropriate authorities for necessary action, he sympathised with the victims over the attack.
The lawmaker reiterated his continued commitment to support popular policies and programmes that have a direct bearing on the lives of citizens.
He congratulated Muslims for the successful celebration of Eid-el-Fitr and urged them to sustain the lessons learnt during the Ramadan period in the interest of peace and national development.
The Nasarawa State Police Command had on June 5 confirmed the killing of three policemen by yet to be apprehended gunmen at Mararaba-Udege village in same Nasarawa local government area of the state.
ASP Samaila Usman, the Public Relations Officer of the command, told newsmen in Lafia that the deceased policemen were ambushed and killed on June 3 on their way to quell the crisis in Agatu.
Usman said that the command had mobilised a reinforcement team, led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police to fish out the killers of the policemen.
He said that the corpses of the policemen; an inspector, a sergeant and a corporal, had been recovered and deposited at a morgue.
But the spokesman declined to name the names of the murdered policemen for security reasons.