Again, Bandits Kill 49 In Fresh Plateau Attacks

Not less than 49 persons have been confirmed killed and many others injured following a brutal attack on the Zike Kimakpa community in Kwall district of Irigwe Chiefdom, Bassa local government area of Plateau State.

The incident, which occurred late Sunday night, left the affected community in grief and devastation and also left several persons injured.

It was also gathered that some homes were razed down by the gunmen.

LEADERSHIP reports that several persons were injured while over 30 houses burnt in the process.

Sources from the community told our correspondent that gunmen invaded them and started shooting sporadically on Sunday night.

Danjuma Dickson Auta, the secretary general of the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), who confirmed the attack in a telephone interview with newsmen, said over 49 bodies had so far been recovered and still counting.

According to him, the scale of the violence suggests a well-planned and coordinated assault on the community.

Meanwhile, the Plateau State government has condemned in strong terms another unprovoked attack by gunmen on the Zike Kimakpa community of Kwall district Miango, Bassa local government council of the state.

The commissioner for information and communication, Hon Joyce Ramnap, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone, said the attack is one too many and that this series of attacks poses an existential threat to the lives and livelihoods of the peace-loving people of the state .

“It is sad that in less than two weeks after our people were killed in Bokkos local government , this sad incident is reoccurring in another community in Bassa local government.”

She described the attack as another attempt to puncture the peace that has gradually returned to the state, maintaining that the attacks are provocative, but called on the peaceful people of the state, particularly in the attacked communities, to remain calm and vigilant.

The commissioner emphasised that the Mutfwang administration is determined to deal decisively with anybody or groups found culpable in attacking innocent persons in the state.

She advised against reprisals and urged security operatives to go after the perpetrators of these dastardly acts.