The Brigade Commander, 23rd Amour Brigade Yola, Brig. Gen. Bello Mohammed says seven policemen and two soldiers lost their lives within the past two months as a result of Numan, Adamawa, sectarian crisis involving herdsmen and farmers.

Mohammed made this known on Thursday in Yola, while addressing a town hall meeting of stakeholders on the crisis.

He said the military organised the meeting to sound a final warning to those involved that it would henceforth be hard on those who failed to embrace peace and dialogue in resolving differences.

“The crisis that initially started in Numan and environs spread to four LGAs namely; Girei, Demsa and Lamurde, and later to parts of Taraba.

“Sadly, the measures and strategies employed by security agencies have not yielded the desired effect; the stakeholders have regarded our soft handedness measures as weak and incapable of dealing with the situation.

“Henceforth, we members of the security agencies forum have collectively resolved to tackle this mayhem and unwarranted killings at all cost.

“The first deliberate step towards permanently resolving this issue is this town hall meeting.

“It is part of soft power approach to internal security situations, it would be followed by hard and smart power approaches; to be forewarned is to be forearmed,” Mohammed said.

While lamenting that elites, politicians and traditional rulers in the affected areas were not helping matters in addressing the problem, Mohammed said warring parties were also fond of overreacting and mostly on baseless and unconfirmed information.

The brigade commander said that as part of measures taken by security agents to tackle the security situation in Numan, resisting an arrest or obstructing security personnel from carrying out their duties would be considered as a serious offence.

Other actions that constituted serious offences according to him included unlawful assemblies and movement of persons with arms in affected communities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that those who spoke at the meeting included representatives of farmers, herdsmen, politicians, traditional and religious leaders.

They all condemned the crisis and resolved to mobilise their people towards peaceful coexistence and the need for dialogue in resolving the conflict.

Meanwhile, Mohammed has said 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with a missing soldier in Opallo Village, Lamurde Local Government area, Adamawa.

Mohammed told newsmen on Thursday in Yola that a District Head was among the suspects arrested.

“The district head, name withheld, has been released on the request of Chief of Bachama Chiefdom, Honest Irimiya, with a pledge that he will fish out and bring those involved in the crime,” he said.

Mohammed said a military search team was already working in the area to trace the missing soldier.

Meanwhile, people are fleeing Opallo village for fear of possible arrest.

Some residents, however, alleged that part of the village had been set ablaze by gunmen.