No fewer than eight people were killed with many others sustaining varying degrees of injuries in three different attacks in Plateau State on Sunday by two different groups of people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. Nigerian Tribune learnt that the assailants, numbering about 50, armed with sophisticated weapons, swooped on a village called Farin-Lamba in Jos South Local Government Area of the state at about 11.00 p.m. and descended on the inhabitants who had all gone to bed.
It was gathered that before the people could recover for a possible counter attack, the invaders had overrun them and succeeded in killing four people, while many sustained serious injuries. It was further learnt that at about the same hour, Haman village, in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of the state, was also under attack with four people killed in the midnight attack. Four others, who were injured in the process are now receiving treatment at Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
Also, in Kopgai village in Mangu Local Government Area, three armed men stole 102 cattle and 12 sheep from one Hassan Abdulkarim after shooting sporadically into the air. Disturbed by the fresh attack in Jos South Local Government, the women of the local government area, in their hundreds on Monday, trooped to the streets to protest the invasion and in the process burnt some of the tents of the Special Task Force (STF) within the vicinity.
The protesters, in black attire, shouted anti-STF slogans and denounced the task force, which they accused of being privy to the attack. Some of the women, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune said that those who carried out the attack on the village were in military uniform, adding that the assailants came into the village in a Hilux vehicle.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Abdulrahaman Akano, who confirmed the attacks in a press statement signed by him, however, said four people were killed and five people were injured in the Farin-Lamba attack, with two killed in Hamman village. He said the report he got indicated that those who carried out the attack were in military uniform, adding that he was yet to confirm that.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the protest by women in Farin-Lamba, the commissioner of police said the peaceful protest took a frightening dimension, when the women burnt down some tents of the STF men in the area.
In the scuffle that ensued, six women were shot and were receiving treatment at Vom Christian Hospital.
Written by Isaac Shobayo - The Nigerian Tribune.
