By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
A survivor of Ungwan Rukuba community deadly attack in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Patrick Ishaya has told Nigerians what the Nigerian Army allegedly did to him after the attack.
Newstracktoday reports that gunmen invaded the quiet community on Palm Sunday to rain terror on them and left 30 persons dead and others injured.
In a video posted by Arise News, one of the survivors, identified as Patrick Ishaya, narrated his experience in the course of the attack.
Ishaya recalled how he was being chased down by an army truck and was hit with a gun on his leg, causing severe injury.
According to him in the video, “I saw an army truck coming; they were shouting, so I became scared, and I started running. They followed me and used their gun to hit my leg.”
Newstracktoday also reported that one of the leaders of the community had earlier accused the Army of allegedly shielding the gunmen but in a swift reaction, the Army debunked the allegation.
The Media Information Officer, of JTF, Captain Chinonso Oteh, disclosed this in a statement made available to Journalists in the state.
The JTF in their statement said the claim made by one of the youth leaders of the community alleging that they provided coverage for the attackers was false and misleading.
The JTF said it would have ignored the claim which is currently circulated on social media, especially in this moment of grief, but chose to debunk it for the purpose of clarity and the benefit of well meaning Nigerians.
The statement reads, “It is expedient to state unequivocally that at no point did troops provide any form of cover for the terrorists elements who carried out the unfortunate attack that claimed the lives of innocent citizens.
“Rather, troops on receiving a distress call on the unfortunate incident swiftly mobilised to the scene, which was far away from where they were deployed and observed that the attackers had fled.”
The JTF said troops acted professionally to avert what could have spiraled to endless bloodshed and pursued the fleeing criminals as could be attested to by many survivors who were at the scene of the attack.
It added, “Specifically, four gun trucks mounted by troops were despatched to the incident scene and they acted professionally on arrival as confirmed by other security agencies, as well as eye witnesses at the scene of the attack.
“Nonetheless, the allegation was promptly investigated and confirmed to be false.
“The comment by the youth leader is false, misleading and unfortunate, capable of demoralising troops and causing disaffection between the military and its host community.”
The JTF urged the public to discountenance the comment, remain calm, law abiding and continue to support troops with credible and actionable information on terrorists activities.
“Troops in conjunction with other security agencies have adopted effective strategies to unravel and apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
“Troops will continue to deal decisively with criminals while maintaining peace in every part of Plateau State,” the statement said
