A United States based humanitarian organisation, Equipping The Persecuted, has raised urgent concern over what it described as a plot to massacre many people in some northern communities on Christmas Day.
However, the Presidency quickly questioned the group’s intentions, stating that the alarm was dubious and may unnecessarily frighten Nigerians.
Judd Saul, the organization’s founder, gave a speech at a roundtable discussion organised by the African Jewish Alliance and the International Committee on Nigeria.
The meeting, which was held on Wednesday in Washington DC, United States, was chaired by a former congressman, Frank Wolf.
Sources gathered that was also in attendance of the meeting was Congressmen Riley Moore and Chris Smith, Senator James Lankford, and members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, alongside some Nigerian delegation.
Saul said terrorists had started regrouping for the planned attacks.
He said, “They are gathering forces around the Plateau and Nasarawa border, along the Nasarawa-Benue border and along the Nasarawa-Kaduna border. They are planning to hit on Christmas Day in Riyom, Bokkos, Kafanchan and Agatu.
According to sources, the meeting was among a series of deliberations to resolve the insecurity in Nigeria and address concerns of alleged killing of Christians.
A source close to the US government told Saturday PUNCH that Saul had officially communicated the said report his organisation got to the government through Moore.
“All the congressmen at the meeting have been to Nigeria many times. They’ve been involved in this matter since (Bill) Clinton was president. They classified the attackers mostly as terrorists and jihadists. Saul has officially notified the US through Riley, who will be filing a report to President Trump on it,” the source said.
Meanwhile, sources also revealed thata senior officer of the Department of State Services in Abuja confirmed that the agency was aware of the planned attacks on Christmas Day and had commenced preventive measures.
“The service is aware; we have the intelligence report and we are already working on it,” the officer stated in a short conversation with sources on Friday.
Presidency dismisses alert
In response, the President rejected the warning, claiming that the group’s assertions could incite needless anxiety.
In response to a Saturday inquiry by sources, Mr. Temitope Ajayi, President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, advised the public to exercise caution while disseminating stories from outside organisations without first confirming their motivations.
Questioning the intention behind the alert, Ajayi added, “What is the motive and agenda of this organisation in raising this kind of alarm about a likely terror attack in the three states and on Christmas Day?”
He, however, assured Nigerians that security agencies were fully prepared to prevent any threat.
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