Plateau Attack: 1 more person burns to death as assailants loot, raze down 2 villages
Lalong met with stakeholders which include heads of
security agencies, Traditional Rulers, Community Leaders and Ardos representing
the Fulani community at the government house where he insisted that the perpetrators
must be fished out immediately.
The Governor who addressed the stakeholders at the Government
House, Little Rayfield-Jos expressed anger over the incident which he said will
not be allowed to degenerate further and make nonsense of the efforts put in to
restore peace to the state, insisting that nobody is above Government.
He said “how can they say that people are killed and there is
no arrest. Are those killing others spirits? I don’t think you can kill 15 human
beings and claim you are spirit and there is not arrest. Commissioner of
Police, you should take the community leaders and the Ardos with you so that
they can tell you those behind these killings. By the time you go to cell, you
will bring out those people that are doing it. If you want to give evidence,
give it to the commissioner of police. We are not afraid of criminals.”
“Some community leaders and Ardos have done their best but
within us, there are criminals. We must expose them no matter how high. If you
are one of them, you better take yourself to the police station. The Army is
here, Police, Civil Defence, DSS, Operation Rainbow. I want those people today.
They should not sleep in their houses. By the time they are arrested, we will
solve this problem”. The Governor said.
One person was reportedly burnt to death in the continuous guerilla attack on villages in Bokkos Local Government of Plateau in the night of Monday.
Our Correspondent reports on Tuesday that the unfortunate man was very ill and could not run when assailants launched an attack on Ruboi village and was burnt to death when his house was set ablaze.
The death of the sick man has brought the number to 16 people killed in the recent attack on villages in Bokkos Local Government.
Mr. Titus Alams, former Speaker, Plateau House of Assembly, told newssource24 in an interview that “the attackers looted our houses, shops, Churches before setting them on fire.”
Alams, who is native of Ruboi village, and a former speaker of the plateau state house of assemble described the situation as “shocking” and “unbelievable” considering “the way and manner the attackers went about the nefarious act.”
“Last night Ruboi and Mariah villages were attacked with most houses, shops and Churches set on fire.
“Most of the attackers were on Motorcycles as they move about looting and burning peoples houses, shops and Churches unchallenged.
“Even my own house was partly burnt during the attack but that the family house of my former Chief of Staff, Mr. Reuben Musa-Mallah, was completely burnt down along with others.
“We are under seige in Bokkos. My fear is that villages like Mushu, Mile Bagwa, Manja and Marit which are border villages between Mangu and Barkin Ladi Local Governments could be attack too.
“Those villages need serious surveillance by security operatives else they might be attack by heartless assailants, ” the former Speaker warned.
Alams, who said that the security operatives were very inadequate to keep the peace of the area, appealed to the Federal Government and the state Government to increase the number of security personnel in the area for effectiveness.
The former further warned, “if we’re not careful, the Zamfara style of banditry is here with us in Plateau, therefore drastic steps must be taken by the authorities to stop that from happening.”
Also speaking, Mr. Yusuf Machen, Chairman, Bokkos Local Government, confirmed the incident, which he discribed as;”wicked” and “unbelievable.”
Machen said that the bandits have rendered his people in the affected villages homeless with no place to go.
“We are right now sheltering the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the council Secretariat pending further arrangements on how to keep them.
“Right now we are at Government house about to hold a meeting with our Governor, Barrister Simon Lalong to see what we can cater for the IDPs and arrest the situation.
“But thank God every where is calm now with the intervention of the security operatives who have moved into the affected villages now, ” Machen assured.
Contacted, ASP Abuh Gabriel, the Plateau Police Command’s Public Relation Officer (PPRO), who said he was yet to be briefed by the DPO in Bokkos on the latest attack.
While he pledged to issue a press Statement on the latest attack on villages, he said that efforts were being made curtail the activities of the bandits.
The PPRO called on the people of Bokkos particularly the victims to refrain from taking any wrongful action by taking the law into their hands so as not to compound the situation but remain calm.
Gabriel said that the police would not rest on its owes in tracking the bandits to face the full wrath of the law.
Sourcenews24/update.com 