How Army Tried To Broker Peace Deal Between Gunmen And Plateau Residents

Troops of the Nigerian Army's Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) reportedly tried to broker a peace deal between some gunmen and residents of Miango village in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau state.

Speaking with TheCable, a source said the army commanders had invited one of the bandit leaders for a dialogue when some farmers were killed by the gunmen.

However, the source stated it was agreed that the gunmen won't attack the villagers or kill any farmer, but the gunmen later asked the troops to leave their post around the village three weeks later.

He said that the gunmen asked the villagers to inform the troops to leave their location as they planned to attack the community.

According to the source, the Nigerian Army leadership recently deploy the soldiers to the area and have stopped the reported attacks on the villagers by gunmen.

“Because they can't enter into the village and launch an attack, as soldiers won't allow them, they now wait for some farmers to enter their farmland and from there they go to attack them.

“It could be difficult to ask soldiers to now follow each villager to the farm, so we thought we could broker peace through dialogue with those guys.

“We made a call through, and an agreement was reached that they won't attack the villagers again. Then at least, we had about three weeks gone and there was no attack on any farmer.

“It was shocking to see their latest threat, but our troops are on standby and we won't allow them to take over that village,” a source said.

According to the source, the situation has already been reported to the operation's headquarters and reinforcement has been requested in case the gunmen attack the village.