The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has appealed to residents of Sokoto State to immediately return any explosive materials allegedly taken from the site of a United States Christmas Day airstrike in Jabo community, warning that the items pose serious danger to individuals and the general public.
The military said it was deeply concerned that sensitive and highly dangerous materials from the blast site had been removed by unauthorised persons, stressing that civilians are neither trained nor permitted to handle such devices.
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Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists, Michael Onoja, Director of Defence Media Operations, said specialised military formations are mandated to recover and neutralise explosive devices, not civilians.
According to him, the Armed Forces do not expect members of the public to pick up or keep materials linked to military airstrikes, as doing so could result in fatal consequences.
“We can only appeal to them to return all materials that may prove harmful to them.
“We don’t expect anybody to take away these materials. We have formations within the armed forces whose duty it is to recover those things”, Onoja said.
The senior military officer urged the media to assist in amplifying the message, calling on anyone in possession of the materials to return them to the nearest military base or recognised security location to enable safe disarmament.
“So we also want you to disseminate to them that they should return them to the military or security locations so that we can disarm those things before they cause greater damage to the individuals who have taken them and to other members of the public,” he added.
