At least 10 persons, including a woman who was nine months pregnant, were reportedly killed on Tuesday, April 14, when gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen attacked Hwra village in Kwall District of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Survivors, mostly women and children, are reportedly moving out of the community in droves for fear of further attacks.
It was gathered that the attackers invaded the village at about 8 pm when the villagers were asleep as a result of the total lockdown in the state, according to an account of the incident.
The president of the Irigwe Development Association, Hon Sunday Abdu, who confirmed the attack, said that the attackers burnt down the entire village with foodstuffs and other valuables worth millions of naira, Abdu said.
“The attackers attacked the village and burnt the entire houses in their usual way when the people were sleeping as a result of the lockdown. Nine people were killed including a pregnant woman, and these people do not obey the laws of the land; we have outlaws in Nigeria.”
A community leader, Moses Gata, said soldiers were withdrawn from Miango communities a few weeks ago after which the attackers dislodged four villages with dozens of people killed.
He confirmed that 23 houses were burnt with valuables worth millions of naira and called on the people and government of the state for urgent assistance to rehabilitate the devastated communities.
The deceased persons were mostly children and women who have been given mass burial.
“Yes, the incident happened yesterday night; it was very unfortunate and when the incident occurred, we mobilised our men to the scene immediately,” said Major Ibrahim Shittu, spokesman of the special task force Operation Safe Haven (OPHS), confirming the incident.
“As we speak, the commander of Sector 3 who has been in the area and the commander of the Operation Safe Haven, Major General Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, has gone to the scene and addressed the people and assured them of more personnel to protect lives and property.”
Major Shittu said he did not have the casualty figure as of press time, saying, however, that military personnel were working round the clock to find the perpetrators of the deadly attack.
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