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• Troops neutralise 10 bandits in state forest
From Jude Owuamanam Jos
No fewer than eight people were killed in a fresh attack on Mbwelle village in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State late Thursday night.
Our correspondent gathered that the attackers, who struck at about 11 pm, shot sporadically for close to an hour without challenge.
Most of the victims were members of the same family.
The victims include Elder Iliya Mangut Dakus, Luck Titus Dakus, Habila Istifanu Dakus, Hassan Istifanus Dakus, Mrs. Hassan Moses Dakus, Biggie Lucky Dakus, Sunday Gideon Dakus and Innocent Barnabas Makwin.
The oldest son of Iliya Dakus, who spoke in a viral video, said that they were sleeping when they heard staccato gun sounds.
According to him: “When I heard the sound, I tapped my wife and told her that some people were shooting, and she said, you’re always afraid. Just go and sleep. I told her this is not just shooting; we’re under attack. I managed to slip from the backdoor and before I could do anything to help my family, the gunmen surrounded them and shot them in cold blood.”
Pointing to the corpses, he said, “This is my father, this is my wife, these are my brothers and these are my children. Altogether eight of them are from the same family.” The Chairman of the Bokkos Community Peace Observers, Kefas Mallai, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, said the attack has created tension in the community. He alleged that there was no response from security forces despite the proximity of the troops’ location to the community, where personnel are currently deployed to protect a specific community suspected by natives of Bokkos to be the origin of the attackers.
“The attack lasted for several hours with no visible security presence to repel the attackers, in a community that is very close to Bokkos town.”
Mallai expressed dismay over the failure of security operatives to protect them and are planning to protest. In a related development, the Berom Youth Moulders Association, has raised the alarm over unrelenting ambushes and killings targeting residents of Barkin Ladi, Riyom, and Jos South LGAs, even with security operatives on the ground.
According to the association, on Wednesday, gunmen ambushed travellers returning from mining activities around the Great Commission area along the Bokkos Road, heading to Nding in Fan District of Barkin Ladi LGA, at about 4:15pm.
The attackers, it said, opened fire on the victims, killing Ayuba Pam of Nding Sesut, while two others, Alfred Dung and Nathaniel Bitrus, sustained serious injuries and were receiving treatment in a hospital.
According to him, the same evening, around 6:30, gunmen ambushed and killed Christopher Joshua, a father of three from the Byei community in Riyom LGA, along the Gwolhoss–Byei road as he was returning home from his daily activities.
Meanwhile, troops of Operation Enduring Peace have neutralised 10 terrorists and rescued several kidnapped victims during a major clearance operation in Daji Madam Forest in Plateau State.
They also dismantled criminal camps in the coordinated operation, carried out in the early hours of Thursday.
