Army, villagers clash: Niger Government calls for calm

The Niger State Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, has called on the people of the state to be calm as the security agencies try to bring the recent crisis between the military and villagers in Kpaidna, Legbe-dagma, Bambe, Kopa, Lunku and surrounding villages in Bosso Local Government Area of the State to normal.
In a statement in Minna, Vatsa maintained that the Government of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello places utmost premium on the security of lives and properties in the state and will continue to spare nothing legitimately possible within the obligation of the government to ensure peace and security in the state.
Accordingly, he said the people of the state should be calm and go about their legitimate businesses as all hands are on deck to ensure that the situation does not escalate to the level of impeding the peace of the state, that has received both international and national accolades in recent time.
The Commissioner therefore stated that the government is appealing to all political leaders in the state to guide their utterances in order not to jeopardize the normalcy currently enjoy in the affected areas.
He said: “Government believes that issues of security should not  be used for political advantage and politics should not be played with issues bordering on security especially when it involves a strategic organization like the Military.
“We are aware of our obligation to the people, to the extent that we will not allow our people to be unduely subjected to any harassment and intimidation, but situation like this calls for calm, which is while we as a government chose to thoroughly find out details of what happened before knowing the best steps to take in order to avoid future occurrences.
“We will also advocate synergy in the operations of security agencies in the state and we are  appealing to them to always exercise some restrain while dealing with the citizens in order that the basic  rules of engagement are not betrayed and the right of the people are not trampled upon as permitted  within the framework of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Vatsa stated that the government of Niger State sympathizes with the families of both soldiers and civilians who lost their lives during the crisis and assured that the government will always support the security agencies in the state to carry out their constitutional duties.