From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Newly-married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Rwang Danladi, have been identified as victims of the school shooting, which occurred in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, on Monday.
The couple were reportedly killed when people identified as herdsmen had led their cattle into their school, BECO Comprehensive School, Kwi, Riyom.
National Publicity Secretary, BECO Comprehensive School Kwi, Rwang Tengwong (BYM), said, in a statement, that the attack represented the highest form of provocation. He, therefore, called on the government to ban open grazing in Plateau State since grazing has become a ploy to continue unleashing havoc on human lives and property.
The statement said the attack happened as the school authorities held a meeting to compile results of students for delivery on Friday, during “Speech and Prize Giving-Day”, in line with the school’s calendar.
He said: “BYM is saddened over the invasion of BECO Comprehensive School Kwi, where two staff, Mr and Mrs Rwang Danladi, were reportedly shot dead and one Mr Dalyop Emmanuel Ibrahim, the Vice Principal of the school seriously injured by some known Fulani armed men, alongside suspected bandits, at about 3pm of Monday, August 14, 2023.
“According to a local source who pleaded anonymity, the bandits came into the school compound with their cattle, and interrupted the staff meeting. The source added that the staff had asked the Fulani to get their cows out of the school environment. But, instead of complying, they brought out their arms and opened fire at the teachers.
“This resulted to the death of recently wedded couple, Rwang Danladi and his wife, Mrs Sandra Rwang Danladi, who were members of staff of the school, while Mr Dalyop Emmanuel Ibrahim, who is the Vice Principal of the institution, sustained serious injury and is receiving medical treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
“The Berom Youth Moulder-Association (BYM), under the leadership of Solomon Dalyop Mwantiri, Esq, notes with concern how these terrorists from Fass and Mahanga now move freely with arms and graze on farmlands, intimidating and killing locals at nearby communities.
“Fass and Mahanga, as well as Guava have become enclaves of terrorists, who carry out all sorts of coordinated attacks on villages and communities in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Bokkos, Mangu, Jos South and even beyond the state.
“We, therefore, call on the government to ban open grazing in Plateau State, since grazing has become a ploy to continue unleashing havoc on human lives and property. We, also, call on security operatives to, as a matter of urgency, raid the aforementioned settlement formed by way of forceful occupation, after uprooting the aboriginals therefrom. This is necessary, in order to get rid of both the terrorists and criminal elements that have firmly defied law and order.
“In conclusion, the BYM calls on the government to declare Fulani militias as terrorists so as to be treated as such.”