The President of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, Solomon Dalyop Mwantiri, has accused security agencies in Plateau State of allegedly ignoring early warnings about impending attacks prior to the recent violence in Angwan Rukuba, Jos North.
Mwantiri made the allegation on Monday when he visited the affected community following the deadly Sunday night attack by suspected gunmen.
According to him, several alerts and threats of violence were openly circulated before the incident, particularly on social media, but were not taken seriously by security operatives.
He noted that some of the posts specifically warned that attacks would escalate after the Ramadan fasting period, raising concerns that the violence could have been կանխented.
The BYM leader further disclosed that his organization had shared intelligence with security agencies about the movement of suspected terrorist groups into Plateau State weeks before the attack.
“Since three weeks ago, we got intel that terrorist gangs have moved into Plateau,” Mwantiri said.
He alleged that the groups had already established camps and were preparing to launch coordinated attacks across parts of the state.
“They built camps ready for attack. The foot soldiers of Bello Turji and others from Nasarawa and Southern Kaduna have moved into the state,” he stressed.
Mwantiri expressed disappointment that despite these warnings, no decisive action was taken to prevent the attack, which eventually claimed several lives.
He called on the Plateau State Government and the security hierarchy to launch a thorough investigation into what he described as possible lapses within the system.
“We cannot continue to pretend as if everything is okay because they are not,” he said.
The BYM president further questioned the response of security agencies, suggesting there may have been complacency in handling credible intelligence.
“I dare to say that there must be a kind of complacency within the security agencies. If not so, why won’t they act on those credible intelligence before the situation escalates?” he queried.
He urged authorities to take urgent steps to strengthen intelligence response mechanisms and prevent future occurrences of such attacks across Plateau State.
