Human Rights Commission Says Police Downplaying Scale of Carnage in Ombatse

The National Human Rights Commission says it believes that over 80% of members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) that went to troubled in Lafia Local East Government Area of Nasarawa State on May 7, at least 80 people, were killed by Ombatse group.

In a report prepared by the Nasarawa State Office (NSO) on the extra-judicial killings, the commission said it believes the Nigeria Police Force is deliberately keeping low the number of members of the JTF killed low so as not to demoralize other members of the police force and also not to create panic within the force.

"They also do not want to create panic in the state by giving the citizens the impression that the police are helpless and cannot protect them," the report said.

Tracing the background to the tragedy, the NSO said the JTF was constituted at the instance of Governor Tanko Al-Makura following reports of attacks on churches and mosques in Alakyo by members of the Ombatse Cultural Group. The JTF, numbering about 100 and led by Assistance Commissioner of Police Momoh, included the police, the military and the State Security Service.

The ill-fated visit may, however, have been leaked, as the JTF walked into a "perfect ambush." The Ombatse attackers were ready and waiting by the time the JTF got there, the report said. Those who survived are being treated at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia, the state capital. The commission learnt that about 34 corpses have been recovered and taken to DASH.

The report recommended, among others: a thorough investigation of the matter so that the perpetrators and their sponsors may be brought to book; prompt payment of all the entitlements of the slain officers to their families; and ensuring that the families of the slain officers that live in the barracks are not evicted from their houses until alternative accommodations are made available



Sahara reporters