Adamawa violence attack: Muslim Council, Police trade words over Tingno arrests

By KABIRU R. ANWAR, Yola

Adamawa Muslim Council has accused police command in the state of bias after police paraded 18 people arrested in the wake of an invasion attack which left 50 people dead and hundred displaced in Tingno, Lamurde council area of the state. The council says the 18 people paraded were residents who lost 50 relatives in the attack.

But police said it arrested 32 people in total and that the 18 in question were arrested in the aftermath of the attack for possession of weapon, looting and other offences, according to Adamawa police spokesman Sulaiman Nguroje. The arrests come in the wake of a communal clash between Hausa and Chabo communities two weeks ago which left 50 dead and hundreds displaced.

The council in social media posts reacted after Adamawa police commissioner Olugbenga Adeyanju paraded the 18 suspects.

Addressing journalists in Yola, the chairman of the council, Gambo Jika, wondered how the police paraded 18 suspects from the ravaged community that lost dozen of its members, saying 14 of paraded persons belonged to the same Garba family. “To worsen matters, up till now, we don’t’ have any statistics on the number of death or even casualty on the other side of the divide. This will invariably tell you that something fundamental is amiss. One cannot in all logic justify this arrest,” he said.

“How can a community which came under heavy attack be blamed for causing the crisis that claimed 50 lives of its members displaced close to 1,000 while 60 members suffered serious gun injuries and tremendous destruction of property and livelihood.

“The most surprising thing about the arrest was the ascription that the attackers were bearing only two guns. No just man will accept that people carrying only two guns can wreck such monumental havoc to a community that harbours thousands of people.”

The council therefore called on the police commissioner who was newly posted to the state to investigate the matter and bring the real culprits to face justice without fear or favour in the interest of peace. Nguroje has said the suspects would be prosecuted immediately and that the police had convened a meeting with representatives from both sides of the conflict. (Daily Trust)