The military has denied allegations that troops of Operation Safe Haven negotiated with gunmen to avert attack from attacking a village in Basa, Plateau State.The military also refuted claims that the gunmen asked the troops to vacate the area ahead of the planned attack. A statement on Friday by the Military Information Officer, Major Ishaku Takwa,indicated that troops did not negotiate with criminal elements.

The statement was titled, ‘Re: Gunmen ask troops to vacate Plateau community ahead of planned attack. It read, “ Operation Safe Haven has noted an online report in circulation on social media alleged that gunmen asked troops deployed in an unspecified village in Bassa to vacate the community ahead of planned attacks.“It was also alleged that the troops went on to negotiate with the gunmen to avert attacks on the said village. “While OPSH would not want to join issues with this merchant of falsehood, it is however instructive to state that the report is unsubstantiated, laced with falsehood and fictitious imagination of the author.”