Eight people have been killed and four others wounded on Thursday night as bandits invaded Vole community in Kwatas district, Bokkos Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State.
Similar attacks at a mining site in Kok village, Ropp district, as well as in Chenye village, Bachi district of Barkin Ladi and Riyom LGAs, where two people were killed were reported the previous day.
Chairman of the Plateau Youth Council (PYC) in Bokkos, Dakol James, who revealed the Bookos attack, said the incident took place between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
He condemned the attack and appealed to the government to intervene urgently to end the violence.
James said “the entire Bokkos youth population is deeply disappointed with the security situation. As of this morning, no security personnel have been deployed to assess the situation. It has been about 12 hours, and we have not seen any security presence.” he said.
Another Bokkos youth leader, Christopher Luka, said he heard gunshots around 8:00 p.m. but could not immediately determine their source.
Luka said “when I heard the gunshots, I started calling others to find out where the shooting was coming from. Before this, the area had been relatively peaceful.
“There had been no recent incidents of violence, so this attack came as a shock. We strongly condemn both the attack and the absence of security personnel.”
Also, the Chairman of the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association (GAFDAN) in Bokkos, Saleh Adamu, condemned the attack, saying it was unfortunate and unwarranted.
“I was surprised to hear about the attack, especially as the community had been enjoying relative peace. There had been no incidents to justify this.
“We have been holding meetings, and peace was gradually returning. This development is both unfortunate and condemnable.
“We do not yet know those responsible. We urge security agencies to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said.
The spokespersons of Operation Enduring Peace and the Plateau State Police Command, Captain Polycarp Oteh and SP Alabo Alfred, were yet to give statements on the latest attacks as they had yet to respond to inquiries at the time of filing this report.
