Fleeing terrorists kill five in Plateau community

Barely two weeks after eight persons were killed in two separate attacks carried out by gunmen in Congo and Zarap communities in the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, gunmen have again killed five persons in the same council area.

It was learnt that the latest attack occurred in Mbar Community on Sunday night.

Residents told our correspondent in Jos on Monday that the victims, who were mainly youths, were attacked on their way from Mbar town to Koh village along a bypass encircling Yelwa Nono village.

The attack, they said, happened  between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. by fleeing terrorists on motorcycles.

The terrorists had initially been repelled by the military from the surrounding mountains.

The Chairman of the Bokkos Cultural Development Council Vanguard, Farmasun Fuddang, confirmed the fresh killings in a statement on Monday.

The statement, which was jointly signed by the association’s Secretary, Duwam Bosco, read: “We wish to condemn in the strongest terms the tragic killing of five innocent young men in Mbar community on September 15, despite prior intelligence reports of suspected terrorists’ influx into the area.

“By the time the security forces were informed about the attack and arrived at the scene several minutes later, the terrorists had completed their mission and fled without apprehension.

“This incident adds to a series of armed attacks in our villages, including the recent murder of 11 youths in Tarangol, Daffo, and Bargesh villages on September 3.

“We perceive these unprovoked attacks as a calculated attempt at evicting our people from their ancestral homes and taking over the land.

“We request to be involved in the handling of the threats in our land, working in synergy with security forces as is the case with the civilian joint task force in the North-East and North-West regions.

“This is not to undermine or underrate the efforts of the military. However, we understand the logistical and manpower shortages faced by the military, requiring the active participation of local community members who, by the way, know the terrain and can better assist with intelligence to identify and expose criminal elements in communities.

“This, we believe, can enable us to find lasting solutions to these attacks.

“We wish to also advise communities to eschew late movements as advised by security authorities to minimise risk.”

The socio-cultural organisation sympathised with the families of the victims and called on their people to be vigilant.

“We will not stand idly by while our people, a small minority in Nigeria, are eliminated from the face of the earth,” the statement further stated.

The spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, Alabo Alfred, was not readily available when contacted on the incident as his phone indicated that it was switched off.