40 feared dead in fresh Plateau attack
About forty persons have been killed in a fresh assault on the Zike community, Kimakpa, Kwall district of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The spate of attacks in Plateau has continued despite reassurances from government authorities.
According to Kwall community leader, Wakili Tongwe, the attackers invaded the village in the early hours of Monday and shot sporadically at residents who were scampering for safety after hearing gunshots.
The community leader told Channels Television that a team of vigilantes, including himself and some security personnel, were on patrol in another community when the attackers invaded the village and started shooting.
Though the security personnel engaged the invaders and succeeded in repelling the attackers, the damage had been done, with about thirty-six persons shot dead and four others dying later.
Some other residents sustained gunshot wounds and are receiving medical attention at the hospital.
Security agencies in the state are yet to comment on the attack, which is coming less than two weeks after fifty-two persons were killed in some communities of the Bokkos Local Government Area of the North-Central state.
Plateau State has been experiencing tragic spate of killings by armed criminals who sacked communities and burnt down buildings during repeated incidents of attacks.
Experts blame the fight for resources between farmers and herders as a major cause of the attacks.
But the governor of the state, Caleb Muftwang, says there is more to the attacks.
Read also:Father, 2 sons killed in Plateau village
“I can tell you in all honesty that I cannot find any explanation other than genocide sponsored by terrorists. The question is, who are the persons behind the organisers of this terrorism? This is what the security agencies must help us to unravel,” the governor said on a recent edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He said bandits have taken over 64 communities in the state.
“As I am talking to you, there are not less than 64 communities that have been taken over by bandits on the Plateau between Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom local governments,” Muftwang said.
“They have been taken over, renamed, and people are living there conveniently on lands they pushed people away to occupy.”
The Federal Government has been talking tough following the recent wave of attacks, vowing to flush out the assailants. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, “ordered the immediate and comprehensive deployment of police tactical assets to the affected areas of the state”.
Follow the Neptune Prime channel on WhatsApp:
Do you have breaking news, interview request, opinion, suggestion, or want your event covered? Email us at neptuneprime2233@gmail.com
