Muslim communities in Plateau state have kicked against the call by state government to withdraw soldiers from flashpoints in the state.

Daily Trust reports that the state government had, on Friday, through the Special Envoy on peace and security to Governor Caleb Mutfwang, demanded the withdrawal of soldiers from crisis areas and replaced them with mobile policemen.

The call by the state government followed Tuesday morning attack in a community in Riyom LGA, where 27 people were reportedly killed.

The state government had blamed security personnel stationed there for failing to prevent the attack.

The state government also blamed the soldiers stationed in the area for failing to arrest the perpetrators of the attack.

However, reacting to the call for withdrawal of soldiers, in a press conference in Jos, the Muslim community rejected the call and urged the federal government to ignore it, noting that the presence of soldiers, especially from Operation Safe Haven, has helped restore peace in all parts of the state.

Sani Mudi, a leader of the Muslim community and member of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in the state, who led the conference, said the call to remove soldiers at this critical time is ill-timed, as military intervention is required to consolidate the existing peace.

He added that the soldiers had done wonderfully well and need to be commended.

He said, “Deployment of troops in Plateau has a history, and one of the basic facts about it is that the police were initially unable to prevent the challenges of the crisis. Obviously, the military had to be deployed to take over peace enforcement with the support of the police. Later, the concept of Operation Safe Haven was developed, with the addition of other security forces, including the police, and it has worked well in Plateau.”

According to Mudi, “In the beginning, the police were overwhelmed, and we suffered. So, military has to come in and has been impartial and neutral. They are sensitive to the nature of all communities, and all areas were adequately covered. The military has a fantastic approach in terms of dialogue with people – they don’t perceive everyone as a criminal but investigate first before taking action. They have done well in dialogue and have achieved a lot.”

Speaking during the conference, Barrister Lawal Ishaq, a community leader, said, “For us as a community, suggesting that soldiers be removed and replaced with police is unfair to the military. We urge the state government to rethink this call.

“Every rational person who understands what is happening will agree that the military has done very well, and attempting to remove them would take us back to undesirable times,” he added. (Daily Trust)