Checkpoints Returns In Plateau

The Military checkpoints which disappeared a few
weeks ago in Plateau State under President
Buhari’s directives has resurfaced.
According to reports, checkpoints have been
reenacted in Jos, as well as major towns and rural
roads in the state. It was also gathered that joint
security teams, comprising soldiers and
policemen, conducted thorough searches on
vehicles, forcing a return of traffic gridlock that had
been eased off the road.
President Muhammadu Buhari had three weeks ago
directed that military checkpoints and road-blocks
be removed from the highways.
A top source in the Special Task Force told
disclosed that the road blocks returned to Plateau
State following an appeal by Governor Simon
Lalong.
The source said: “The governor, after visiting the
scene of last Sunday’s night bomb attacks in some
parts of Jos north, had blamed the return of the
blasts on the lack of mechanism to check the
movements of evil people.
“The absence of the military checkpoints has
ensured a free flow of all manners of evil and I call
on the President to order that they be restored in
Plateau.”
STF spokesman, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, said the
military checkpoints “never totally disappeared” at
any time.
Iweha added: “The checkpoints did not disappear;
we merely reviewed them and collapsed some of
them for effective service delivery. But, following
what happened, I mean the bomb blasts and their
aftermath, we resolved to restore the checkpoints
to ease and quicken our response to situations.
“You recall that miscreants took advantage of the
blasts to engage in arson and looting. The
Commander was of the opinion that such would
have been averted if checkpoints were nearby.”
Meanwhile, a member of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Timothy Golu, had earlier
urged President Buhari to restore the checkpoints
in Plateau “especially in the rural areas.” He also
argued that the military checkpoints were crucial in
curtailing the movement of small arms and light
weapons, emphasising the need to secure the
“hapless rural dwellers.”
He further stressed that: “Some criminals are
deterred when they know that they could be
pursued by armed personnel at the checkpoints,
but removing such checkpoints will ease their
schemes and operations.”