Armed soldiers were said to have on Tuesday stormed Peva town, a village in the Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State, causing tension among residents.
Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that the soldiers were allegedly searching for the caretaker chairman of the Takum Local Government, Boyi Manja, who was kidnapped around the area on Sunday.
The presence of the soldiers, it was learnt, forced residents to remain indoors.
Some of the residents who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone claimed that the soldiers who stormed the town around 9am beat up residents and forced shop owners to close their shops.
Some of the residents, including Stephen Tyosoo, Terkula Iorsoo and Bridget Akaa, said their houses were broken into by soldiers who broke their doors and beat up people they met in their houses.
“My house was broken into by soldiers this morning. I don’t know why they are doing what they are doing. If they have credible information regarding the whereabouts of the kidnapped chairman, they should work on their intelligence and stop harassing people.
“Shop owners were forced to close as they shot indiscriminately in the air. Tension is building in the area and this is unnecessary,” one of the residents told our correspondent.
When contacted the Army spokesman in the state, Lieutenant Oni, dismissed the allegation, saying nothing of such happened in the area.
