JUST-IN: Gunmen Defy 24-hour Curfew, Kill 25 In Plateau Village

Unknown gunmen have defied the 24-hour curfew imposed on Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State by Governor Caleb Mutfwang to unleash mayhem on Kwahaslalek village and the surrounding communities in the wee hours of Wednesday where no fewer than 25 villagers were killed and property worth millions of naira burnt.

Recall that Governor Mutfwang imposed a 24-hour curfew on Mangu LGA in the wake of the sectarian crisis that broke out in Mangu town and Sabon Gari, all in Mangua LGA, on Tuesday.

However, at the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation of the latest incident but a resident of the affected community, who gave his name as Hosea Ibrahim, said the skirmish, which earlier happened in Mangu town that culminated in the imposition of 24-hour curfew was a decoy to pave way for the latest attack on the villages in the LGA.

Our correspondent reports that Kwahaslalek community is not far from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent orientation camp at Jakatai, Mangu local government area.

“What happened at Sabon Gari and Mangu on Tuesday was just a distraction so that people’s attention will be shifted away from the villages. For the second time, my village Kwahaslalek (behind NYSC camp) was attacked at about 12:30 leaving over 25 people mostly women and children killed while many others sustained gunshot wounds.

“At about midnight there was sporadic gunshot and the women ran to one compound for safety but unfortunately, the terrorists went there and killed them while the men were keeping vigil outside the community. The victims were killed at a community leader’s house where they ran for refuge. The Mairana, Kinat and other communities in Mangu Halle District and those on the borders of Mangu and Barkin Ladi local government areas have been deserted now,” Ibrahim narrated.

Meanwhile, a security operative who preferred anonymity, told LEADERSHIP that, “Mangu town is calm but we were called in the early hours of today (Wednesday) about a development around the communities close to the NYSC camp, our people are there but the deed had been done. The victims are mostly women and children, they ran to hide there because they thought the place is far and the attackers won’t go there but the attackers were conveyed in a vehicle and dropped there before they attacked.”

Efforts by our correspondent to speak to the Media Officer of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), which in charge of security in Plateau and Bauchi States including some parts of Southern Kaduna, Captain James Oya, were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was switched off at the time of filing this report.