- Police distance self from killed officer
From Jude Dangwam, Jos
A combat team of the Special Forces, code named Operation SAFE HAVEN (OPSH), has neutralised bandits through its rapid response to a distress call in Mangu LGA on Wednesday of the movement of suspected group of bandits along the Mangun-Pushit-Mangu road believed to be amongst those troubling Mangu Local Government Area of the State in recent times.
The Commander of Operations and General Officer Commanding 3 Armoured Division, Major General Abdusalami Abubakar, through the Media Information Officer of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), Captain Oya James, disclosed this to Newsmen on Thursday in a statement.
He explained that troops neutralize the group of bandits and recovered 3 AK47 rifles with 14 rounds of 7.62 special rounds, 1 motorcycle and a Constabulary Police ID card while others escaped with gunshot wounds.
The statement reads, “A Combat Team from Operation SAFE HAVEN whilst responding to a distress call in Mangu LGA today, 12 July 2023 were ambushed along Road Mangun – Pushit – Mangu by a group of bandits believed to be amongst the miscreants fermenting trouble in Mangu LGA.
“Troops professionally and decisively cleared the ambush neutralising 3 of the bandits in the process and recovered 3 x AK 47 Rifles,14 rounds of 7.62 Special rounds, 1 x Motorcycle and a Constabulary Police ID card while others escaped with gunshot wounds.”
The commander reiterated that the Nigerian Army remains resolute in the discharge of its mandate within the ambits of the law and would continue to be firm, bold, decisive and just.
He assured that the protection of lives and property of citizens remains paramount adding that with the redeployment of his headquarters to Mangu LGA, all distress calls would be responded to promptly as several Combat Teams have been dispatched to remote areas in the Local Government for enhanced rapid response.
Meanwhile the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, CP Bartholomew Onyeka, has confirmed that the deceased was once a member of the Special Constabulary of the Nigeria Police Force, but has since been declared a deserter and dismissed from the force.
Onyeka said the deceased who was among those neutralized by the Operation Safe Haven operatives, “one Katzing Zwalnan Zingfa of Langtang North Local Government Area, Tarok by tribe, born on 23/11/1990.
“On completion of his training on 13/11/2020, he was posted to Langtang North Area Command and later to Langtang North Division to carry out his mandate of assisting the police in crime prevention and intelligence gathering.
“The personnel in question absconded from duty for over a year now and by his action of absconding from duty, his character was already in question, hence he was defaulted severally by the DPO Langtang North before declaring him a deserter according to the first schedule, 1990 and section 107 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020. The Area Commander, Langtang also directed all DPOs in the Area Command to arrest him, as soon as he is seen.”
CP Onyeka said the DPOs have been “on the lookout for the said personnel until 12/07/2023 when the Operation Safe Haven operatives did a good job by neutralizing three bandits in Mangu LGA among whom was the said SCP Katzing Zwalnan Zingfa.”
The commissioner further explained that the Special Constabulary is a scheme employed by the then Police administration between 2018 and 2019 with the support of the state governments who arranged training colleges and paid for the cost of training.
“The scheme involves the voluntary recruitment of able-bodied men and women of all ages to give teeth to the concept of community policing in all parts of the nation. The men were selected by their Traditional Rulers/Local Government Chairmen to be persons of credible character and brought to the police for training.
“The special constabularies are to aid the Police in intelligence gathering and not to in any way bear firearms. They are only mandated to be physically present at the police station for two hours daily,” he explained.
The named deceased was once a member of the Special Constabulary of the Nigeria Police Force, he was said to have since been declared a deserter and has been dismissed from the force as “All efforts to track him and retrieve all Police accoutrement proved abortive, until 12th July, 2023 when he met his Waterloo.
“The entirety of the Nigeria Police Force wishes to at this point, distance itself from the activities of the said personnel who at the time of committing this act, was not in any way a member of the Force as he has already been dismissed.”
The CP further warned that the Nigeria Police Force will never tolerate any of its officers with criminal tendencies within the force, and will always do it’s best to ensure that they have no place in the Force, and urged the good people of Plateau State to go about their lawful businesses and give the Police accurate, timely and useful information to enable proactive response to crime and criminality within the state.