Agatu killings: Death figure exaggerated – Arase

Barely one week after the bloody clash between Fulani Herdsmen and the Agatu people of Benue State, the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, on Friday condemned the killings.
Arase, however, said the casualty figure reported was “over exaggerated”.
It should be recalled that during a recent clash between the Agatus of Benue State and their Fulani counterparts, it was said that 300 people, including children and pregnant women, were killed by the Fulani herdsmen and 7,000 others displaced.
The battle between the Fulanis and the Agatus was said to have started after 10,000 herds of cattle belonging to the Fulanis were reportedly killed.
Arase, who was on a one-day visit to Niger State, addressed officers and men of the Niger State Police Command at the Officers Mess in Minna, saying: “I was around, I travelled to Benue State, I did not see where 300 people were buried.
“If you kill, you don’t just bury.
“You must take the corpse to the Police Station before you bury.
“We don’t have that number of people.”
Arase said the Police High Command has completed arrangements to check the incidence of cattle rustling around the country, adding that the police would next week start what he called “Metro Patrol” designed to arrest cattle rustlers.
Accordingly, he said: “The Police Force would not allow criminals to take over the States and the country.
“Everything will be done to bring crime rate to barest minimum.”
The IGP disagreed with those who have said crime rate in Nigeria was very high asking such people to study crime rate in South Africa, the United States of America and some other countries before making their conclusions.
Arase directed the immediate withdrawal of policemen from politicians, saying only “high risk ones (politicians) should be allowed to have orderlies”.
He directed that those policemen to be withdrawn from some politicians should be deployed to regular police duties.
Speaking on the welfare of policemen across the country, Arase decried the dilapidation of police barracks pointing out that the Force was already seeking for funds to rehabilitate them.
The IGP ‎also paid a courtesy visit on the Emir of Minna, Dr. Umar Farouk Bahago, in his palace and the state’s Acting Governor, Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, in the Government House.