•Terrorists
Barely a few days after armed groups launched attacks between Saturday evening and Tuesday morning on Bokkos Local Government Area in Plateau State, a community of Budel in Tangur district of the same local government came under attack last night.
The Transition Committee Chairman of Bokkos, Monday Kassah disclosed that marauders attacked the community at night burning and destroying homes, reports Channels TV.
Kassah explained that no death was recorded due to the timely intervention of security personnel.
While giving an update on the Christmas Day attack, the committee chairman explained the number of casualties still stands at 195, further confirming that rescue operations were ongoing to find missing persons
Of the number, 148 were killed in Bokkos Local Government Area, 19 in Mangu Local Government Area, and 27 in Barkin Ladi. 1,290 houses were burnt down in Bokkos council, one house was razed in Mangu LGA and that of Barkin Ladi was yet to be ascertained at press time.
– ‘Barbaric’ –
The Christmas Day attacks which started in the Bokkos area spilled into neighbouring Barkin Ladi where 30 people were found dead, according to local chairman Danjuma Dakil.
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang condemned the violence, calling it “barbaric, brutal and unjustified”.
“The government will take proactive measures to curb ongoing attacks against innocent civilians,” said Gyang Bere, the governor’s spokesperson.
Gunfire could still be heard on late Monday afternoon, according to a source from the region,
A resident of Mushu village said people were sleeping when shots rang out.
“We were scared because we weren’t expecting an attack. People hid, but the assailants captured many of us, some were killed, others wounded,” he told our correspondent.
Amnesty International criticised the government in the wake of the attacks, saying “the Nigerian authorities have been failing to end frequent deadly attacks on rural communities of Plateau state,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The plateau region has been riddled for several years by religious and ethnic tensions.
Hundreds of people have been killed while thousands have been rendered homeless in cases of intercommunal violence in recent years.
Competition for natural resources between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and farmers, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has also exacerbated social tensions and sparked violence.
The Frontier reports that invaders have threatened fresh attacks on a community in Plateau State on Friday (today), barely four days after they killed 195 persons in 17 communities across the state.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Middle Belt Forum, Stanley Kavwam, in an interview with Arise Television yesterday, said the terrorists had sent a letter of an imminent attack to the Pushit community in the Mangu Local Government Area, where he hails from.
When asked about the impending attack on the Pushit community, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Alabo Alfred, said that the command was aware of the threat.
“We have intelligence, but we are working on it,” the PPRO had assured.
