- 133,000 displaced as death toll rises to 227
- How Anglican Bishop lost 9 cows to rustlers
For residents in Plateau State, their anticipation of an end to the spate of attacks and killings by gunmen in three Local Government Areas of Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Jos South, where a dusk to dawn curfew is currently in place, is gradually turning into a forlorn hope.
This is because, despite the curfew imposed by the state government to stop further attacks on the people after last week’s killing of over 200 persons in the affected council areas, the onslaught against the people has continued.
In the early morning of Saturday, some gunmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, attacked the home of the Anglican Bishop of Jos, Bishop Benjamin Kwashi, and carted away nine cows.
The attack, which occurred in Kangang village, Dadin Kowa community of Jos South Local Government Area, also led to the killing of a man identified as a member of a vigilance group in the community.
Since last week when the curfew came into existence, our people have continued to be killed by the gunmen, both in the day time and night
Confirming the fresh attacks to our correspondent in Jos on Saturday, spokesman of the Plateau State Police Command, Tyopev Mathias Terna, said, “Today, the Plateau State Police Command, Jos, received information that nine cattle belonging to the Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jos, Bishop Benjamin Kwashe, were rustled by men suspected to be herdsmen.
“In the process, one Adamu Dung, a 46-year-old vigilance operative, at Kangan area of Jos was shot and killed by the rustlers. His corpse has been deposited at the Bingham University Hospital, Jos. Meanwhile, investigation is ongoing to track and arrest the perpetrators, to make them face Justice.”
The attack on the home of the Bishop is not the only one in the renewed onslaught on Jos communities.
A resident, identified as Makus Magid Takuwal, was earlier killed on Friday in Makuli village, Gashish District of Barkin Ladi LGA.
It was gathered that Takuwal was shot dead while returning home after visiting some victims of an earlier attack in the community.
His relative, Mr. Gaius Ezekiel, who confirmed the killings, told The Point in Jos on Saturday, that the people in his community had continued to live in fear, despite the curfew imposed by the state government.
According to him, ‘’When government announced the curfew a few days ago, we thought that the attacks and killing of our people will stop, at least because of the subsisting curfew. But from what is happening, we are wrong because, since last week when the curfew came into being, our people have continued to be killed by the gunmen, both in the day time and night. No one is safe anymore. We don’t know the purpose of the curfew since the killings have not stopped.”
Another resident, Chollom Markus, who corroborated Ezekiel’s account, said that his village, Darwat in Jol community, had been under siege by the gunmen, despite the subsisting curfew.
‘’Everyday, we hear sounds of gunshots. Just on Saturday, the Fulani herdsmen came to attack the village again but the military men, who were contacted, engaged them in a gun battle. Right now, we do not know the casualty figure. The situation in which we have found ourselves is very unfortunate,” Markus lamented.
STOP ATTRIBUTING EVERY KILLING TO US -FULANI HEAD
However, a Hausa-Fulani community leader, Salisu Ibrahim, who condemned the worsening security situation in the state, absolved his people from any blame.
“My worry is that, each time there is an attack in the community or somebody is killed, they say it is the Fulani. This is wrong because our people are also being killed. We cannot achieve the desired peace this way except we team up together to collectively address the security situation in the state,’’ Ibrahim told The Point in Jos.
WE’RE ON TOP OF SITUATION, SAYS MILITARY TASK FORCE
But the Special Task Force deployed to restore peace in the state has come out to say that the situation is not as bad.
Spokesman of the task force, otherwise known as Operation Safe Haven, Major Umar Adams, who spoke with The Point in Jos, said that additional reinforcement from different security formations in the country had been deployed in various communities to ensure the protection of lives and property.
IDPs INCREASING DAILY – INVESTIGATION
Notwithstanding the assurances, and as stakeholders continue to trade blames, checks by The Point further revealed that apart from the joint efforts of the security agents and the state government to restore normalcy and bring the situation under control, the number of Internally Displaced Persons, arising from attacks in different communities is growing by the day.
Meanwhile, the Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives, an umbrella body of all ethnic nationalities in the state, has put the total number of displaced persons at 133,000, with over 11,000 taking refuge in at least 10 IDP camps in the state.
The group’s chairman, Dr. Aboi Madaki, said that apart from the pockets of killings currently going on in some communities, as at the last count, 221 people were confirmed to have been killed in the recent mass killings that occurred in about 11 villages.
Some of the communities most affected include Exland, Gindin, Akwati, Ruku, Nghar, Kura Falls and Kakuruk, all in Gashish District; as well as Rakok, Kok and Razat villages in Ropp district, among others.
BREAK-DOWN OF DEATH FIGURES
Madaki said, “PIDAN, in collaboration with the Conference of Autonomous Ethnic Community Development Association, has formed a committee on affected communities known as Committee of Frontline Communities and our data from members of the committee revealed the following deaths occurred in four local government areas in the June 2018 attacks: Barkin Ladi-205; Riyom-9; Jos South-3 and Mangu-2.”
The figures, according to him, were from the group’s records of June 26, 2018.
“Even as of yesterday, more corpses were being recovered,” he sadly observed.
Also lamenting the situation, Dr. Jophia N. Gupar, who is the State Coordinator of W4W and HE4SHE, an association of women working for the return of peaceful coexistence in the state, said that more drastic measures needed to be taken to address the problem at hand.
SIX KILLED IN FRESH SUNDAY ATTACK
Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen again struck in Marabar Kantoma, a village located along the borders of Mangu and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas of the state, killing six people
Villagers said the attack occurred at about 2:45 am on Sunday, when gunmen invaded the village, shooting and burning everything in sight
“We were still sleeping when we were suddenly woken up by sounds of gunshots. We started running for dear life. Some of us escaped but others were not so lucky, as six people were shot and killed by the assailants before escaping into the bush”, Mrs. Gloria Bot, one of the villagers, told our correspondent.
It was gathered that a pastor and a child were among the six people killed during the attack on the village, while one church belonging to the Church of Christ in Nations, and two other churches were equally burnt down in the attack that lasted for hours
As at the time of filing this report, there was tension in the local government area, while more security operatives had been drafted to the scene.
