Plateau Attacks: See How Bandits Shot and Beheaded Victims in their Homes

Plateau Attacks: See How Bandits Shot and Beheaded Victims in their Homes

Survivals of the recent massacre of 78 persons in some Plateau communities on Sunday which led to residents fleeing the affected areas to homes of relations in safer communities in Garga area of Dengi  headquarters of Kanam Local Government Area have continued to recount their ordeal in the hands of bandits.

THECONSCIENCENG gathered that some survivors of the attack, which also led to the burning down of scores of houses, also said, yesterday, that their communities were attacked through the land donated for ranching in the areas.

Though mourning their loved ones, who had since been given mass burial, the survivors said they had to leave for fear of further attacks.

One of the survivors, Ahmadu Salim, from Kukawa said:  “The attackers came on several motorcycles, riding dangerously, firing shots at fleeing natives and setting buildings ablaze.

“As they swooped on the villagers, some of them with long swords were running into homes, slashing people and beheading some as we tried to escape.”

Another survivor, who pleaded anonymity, said: “The gunmen attacked us after invading our community through land donated for the ranching programme of the Federal Government.

“You know the controversy that trailed this ranching programme when it was conceived by the government. We fought against it, knowing that a time like this will come, but government had its way.”

Yet another survivor said he lost many members of his family, adding that he managed to escape being killed by the grace of God.

“The bandits shot and killed running into the bushes, slaughtered those they caught up with in their homes.  The number of deaths being reported is an understatement because many people were chased into the bush and killed there.

‘’I suspect many dead bodies would still be in the bushes, yet to be recovered,’’ said the survivor who pleaded not to be identified for security reasons.

Although the state government has ordered security forces to go after the killers and directed the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, and the Peace Building Agency to immediately visit the areas, assess the situation and provide relief as well as trauma management to the survivors, nothing has happened.

Reacting to the killings, yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari directed security agencies not to spare or forgive those behind the attack.

The President, according to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, ordered law enforcement agencies to work strenuously with the government of the state to bring the situation under control and take steps to bring the culprits to justice quickly.

The statement read: “As full details emerge on the scale of the brutal terrorist attacks in Kanam and Wase communities in Plateau State, President Muhammadu Buhari has described the killings as heinous, saying the perpetrators should not be allowed to escape justice.

“They should not be spared or forgiven. He ordered law enforcement agencies to work strenuously with the government of the state, to bring the situation under control and take steps to bring the culprits to justice quickly.

“President Buhari expressed condolences over the terrorist incident, saying as a matter of priority, peace must return at all costs to the state and the entire country.