Six killed in fresh Plateau attack

Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have killed at least six people in Taagbe, a village in Bassa local government area of Plateau state.

Sunday Yari, a witness, said among those killed were five adults and a teenager.

He said the attackers, who came with sophisticated weapons, moved from one house to another.

“They razed down a lot of houses and destroyed properties worth millions of naira,” he said.

Yari wondered why the attacks were being casually carried out in spite of the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on the local government by the Plateau government.

“It took the grace of God for me to escape. From my hideout, I watched them killing my aged father and two younger ones. I couldn’t act because I was not armed,” he said.

Tema Tyopev, spokesman of the Plateau state police command, said the sad incident happened on Saturday night.

“There was an attack on a village in Bassa local government area; six persons were killed, five others injured,” he told reporters.

Tyopev said some houses were burnt in the attack.

He said those who sustained injuries were receiving treatment at Inos Hospital, Miango in the local government in area.

The police spokesman said no arrest had been made but that efforts were in place to track those behind the attack.

Udie Adie, commissioner of police in Plateau, has visited the scene of the village.

“We shall deploy officers and men to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book,” he said.

“We shall also identify critical stakeholders within the area and work with them toward ending these attacks. We must find a way to end these incessant attacks on the locals.

“For now, we shall keep our officers and men on ground to protect the area; we shall try to ensure that no one takes the law into his hands.”