By Muhammad Salisu
The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Edward Egbuka, has ordered the detention of the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Bassa Local Government Area, Solomon Machu, for allegedly executing two innocent herders in the state.
DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that the DPO had allegedly shot dead a 24-year-old Musa Giwa and 30-year-old Ibrahim Sa’idu after their arrest by local vigilante group at Dogon Daji village.
The herders were reportedly arrested by the vigilante while in search of their missing cow around the Dogon Daji area.
After their arrest, it was gathered, the local vigilante group handed them over to the DPO.
A witness told our correspondent that, “On Monday morning, the corpses of the herders with gunshots in their heads were disposed of by the roadside.
“On Thursday, the police took the dead bodies and deposited them at the mortuary of the Plateau State Specialist Hospital.”
Confirming the detention of the DPO, the spokesperson of the state police command, Ubah Ogaba, said not only the DPO “all other officers involved in the incident have been detained”.
Speaking with newsmen on the incident, a community leader, the Hardo of Dogon Daji, Adamu Muhammad, said the two herders, one Fulani and the other a Ganawuri tribe, were all innocent.
According to him, the deceased were out in search of their missing cow when the local vigilante arrested and handed them over to the DPO.
“Others have returned home having seen the missing cow but Ibrahim Sa’idu and Musa Giwa, did not return.
“I called the village head of Dogon Daji, Mr. Musa Garba Asibayi, and told him to help us find out whether they are around their area, the village head later called back to inform me that they were arrested and safely handed over to the DPO,” he said.
The parents of the deceased herders demanded justice.
Giwa Mangai, the father of late Musa Giwa, called on the Federal Government and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to investigate the matter and bring the culprits to book.
Similarly, Adamu Idris, father to late Ibrahim Saidu, expressed dismay over the killings, saying: “it was unfortunate that an authority like the police officer would kill innocent persons.”
“I am urging the Government to as a matter of urgency prosecute and punish the DPO for killing our children just like that,” he prayed.
Reacting to the incident, the state Chairman of the Miyette-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Nura Abdullahi, lamented that the DPO committed brutality on his members.
He said: “To my greatest surprised it happened by the DPO, one DSP Solomon Machu.
“In a round table conversation at the state headquarters of police, he confessed that he was the killer of those two young boys,” he asserted.
According to Mr Abdullahi, the deceased did not resist arrest nor did they possess any dangerous weapons to warrant their brutal and barbaric killings.
He, however, commended the state police commissioner for his concern.
“We are seeking justice, he should be arraigned before a competent court and we are asking for compensation,” he demanded.
