Shiites should blame themselves, says JTF spokesman

Capt. Ikedia Iweha, the Spokesman, Military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Plateau said the Shiites Islamic Movement should blame itself for the misfortune of Wednesday morning when they were attacked by irate youths at Aguwan Rogo.

The Shiites building and members were attacked by irate youths when they staged a procession between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. to mark the killing of the grandson of the Holy Prophet of Islam.

The JTF Spokesman told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Jos that the task force only responded to a distressed call when they arrived at the scene of the attack.

He said “we don’t have anybody in our custody; all we did was to rescue those injured.

“We also gave the injured first aid and released them thereafter.

“For anybody to accuse us of acting on an order from above is ridiculous because there was no such order but we did what we did to maintain the peace.”

But Alhaji Adamu Tsoho, the leader of the Shiites in the state debunked Iwehas claim and called on Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau to call the JTF, the Izala and Falafiaya Islamic sects to order before they set the state on fire.

Tsoho made the call in Jos, saying that the sect’s worship building was attacked by irate youths of Anguwan Rogo in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau.

He claimed that “just when we were to finish our procession as mark of mourning of the brutal killing of the grandson of Holy Prophet of Islam which is an annual event, youths attacked us, with soldiers chasing our members away.

“Our over N2.5 million worship building was attacked with part of it set ablaze and destroyed, while equipment worth over N1 million were vandalised and carted away,” he alleged.