Follow Us on Google
From Gyang Bere, Jos
The victims were butchered like animals, some were burnt like sacrifices for the gods. This was how gory the scenes of last Sunday’s bloodbath in four villages of Kanam and Wase local government areas of Plateau State were when bandits invaded the communities in broad daylight.
The villagers were taken unawares. None of them anticipated the terror attack, as they ran helplessly while the bandits pursued them one after the other and killed them in cold blood.
More than 78 bodies were buried in mass graves in various places.
Survivors of the bloody attack wailed uncontrollably as they watched in utter disbelief as the bodies of their children, wives, husbands, parents and friends were lowered into the graves and covered with earth.
Fanya Ali narrowly escaped death but lost four children and more than six relations. He is yet to recover from the gory images he saw after the attacks.
“It is painful to see my loved ones lowered into the mass grave. Some were butchered like goats, their blood was everywhere,” he cried.
Ismail Isa, a resident of Kukawa, said he also escaped death by the whiskers as the gunmen invaded the communities at about 10am on Sunday, shooting and killing people.
Ismail lost his cousin and houses belonging to his relations were burnt down.
He has more than 20 persons squatting with him in his small apartment in the village. He explained how the episode started: “It was at about 10am on Sunday when people were outside their homes because of the the heat, coupled with the Ramadan period.
“People were gisting under mango trees, women were fetching water, while children were playing football outside when we saw over 70 motorcycles, each carrying three persons.
“We didn’t know what was going on and we did not anticipate anything evil but on their arrival, they started shooting and killing people.
“Those who were running were shot down and butchered with machetes. They also set houses and shops with foodstuffs on fire. We don’t know what we have done.
“The killings started from 10am up till about 3pm when the security agents arrived at the affected villages. They killed from one village to another and I counted up to 70 corpses.”
Ismail said the deceased were buried in different mass graves in the communities.
Hassan Musa, one of the survivors of the bloody attack, lost four of his family members.
He could not explain how he escaped the attack as the attackers stormed the village in his presence.
“I cannot tell how I escaped the attack. They came when we were sitting under a tree and started shooting people. Some of the people we were sitting with were killed.
“I lost four people in my house and my house was burnt down completely with everything I had. I don’t know where I will live at the moment,” he lamented.
Caleb Mutfwang, governorship aspirant, condemned the terror attacks in Plateau communities. He expressed strong anger and frustration over the continuous killing of Plateau citizens in rural communities by criminals called bandits.
He described as barbaric and unacceptable the recent killings at Chando Zerreci, Rantis and five villages in Kanam and Wase LGAs, respectively.
He condemned the killing of innocent people who were farmers in the state, and appealed to security agencies to redouble their efforts in curbing the menace, which has painted the state in bad light.
Mutfwang called on Plateau citizens to rally against the ravaging insecurity, kidnappings and other criminal activities that have become injurious to the economic growth and development of the state.
He prayed that God would comfort the families of the victims and also called on PLASEMA and NEMA to urgently do the needful.
Plateau State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, vowed to make it difficult for terrorists and other criminals to set up their bases in any part of the state and use it to launch attacks on innocent citizens.
Lalong, who condemned the incident, expressed regrets over the dastardly act and said he had directed security forces to dominate the area after their initial response, which put a stop to the carnage. He also charged them to go after the fleeing terrorists and ensure that they pay for their crimes.
According to the governor, Plateau State will never be used as a haven for terrorists to set up camps and to wreak havoc on communities and innocent citizens in the state and elsewhere.
Senators representing Plateau Central Senatorial District, Hezekiah Dimka, and Plateau South, Prof. Nora Daduut, condemned Sunday’s attack on some communities in Kanam.
In a statement in Jos, Dimka said he recently paid a condolence visit to the chairman of Kanam LGA, Dr. Dayyabu Garga, in Dengi, the headquarters of Kanam LGA, where he described the killings and wanton destruction of property as too many, disheartening, sad and unfortunate. He reiterated his call on the Federal Government to come to the rescue of the state.
Dimka, a retired Commissioner of Police, also called on security agencies to intensify their efforts by investigating the masterminds of the killings with a bid to bringing them to book as a deterrent to others.
“I wish to most heartily, on behalf of the people of Plateau Central, condemn these dastardly acts of taking the lives of innocent people and destruction of property, and to condole with the families of those who have lost their loved ones in the course of these senseless attacks,” he said.
Daduut also condemned the killings and urged the Federal Government to expeditiously apprehend the perpetrators of the act and bring them to book.
