Jos – Military checkpoints in Plateau, which disappeared some weeks ago, have returned.

According to NAN the checkpoints had resurfaced in Jos, other towns, as well as major and rural roads in the state.

It was also observed that joint security teams, comprising fierce-looking soldiers and policemen, conducted thorough searches on vehicles, forcing a return of traffic gridlock that eased off last week.

President Muhammadu Buhari only recently directed that military checkpoints and road-blocks be removed from the highways, but a top source from the Special Task Force (STF) said in Jos that they returned to Plateau following an appeal by Governor Simon Lalong.

“The absence of the military checkpoints has ensured a free flow of all manners of evil and I call on the President to order that they be restored in Plateau,’’ Lalong had said.

Before the governor’s appeal, Rep. Timothy Golu had also called on the President to restore the checkpoints in Plateau “especially in the rural areas’’.

Contacted, STF spokesman, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha, said that the military checkpoints “never totally disappeared’’ at any time.

“The checkpoints did not disappear; we merely reviewed them and collapsed some of them for effective service delivery.

“But, following what happened, I mean the bomb blasts and their aftermath, we resolved to restore the checkpoints to ease and quicken our response to situations.

“You recall that miscreants took advantage of the blasts to engage in arson and looting. The Commander was of the opinion that such would have been averted if checkpoints were nearby.

“So, he quickly ordered that the checkpoints be restored to respond much better to emergencies in and around the vicinities,’’ he said.

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Military Checkpoints and roadblocks return to Jos