Forty persons have been killed overnight in another attack by gunmen on Zike community, Kimakpa in the Kwall district of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a Kwall community leader, Wakili Tongwe, the attackers invaded the village in the early hours of Monday and shot sporadically at residents who were scampering for safety after hearing gunshots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The community leader told Channels Television on the phone that a team of vigilantes, including himself and some security personnel, were on patrol in another community when the attackers invaded the village and started shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the security personnel engaged the invaders and succeeded in repelling the attackers, the damage had been done, with about thirty-six persons shot dead and four others dying later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some other residents sustained gunshot wounds and are receiving medical attention at the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Security agencies in the state are yet to comment on the attack, which is coming less than two weeks after fifty-two persons were killed in some communities of the Bokkos Local Government Area of the North-Central state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plateau State has, for several decades, been a hotbed of killings, with gunmen sacking entire communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 200 people were killed at Christmas 2023 celebrations during a bloody attack on a majority Christian community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May last year, around 40 people were killed and homes torched in the town of Wase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts blame the fight for resources between farmers and herders as a major cause of the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the governor of the state, Caleb Muftwang, says there is more to the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can tell you in all honesty that I cannot find any explanation other than genocide sponsored by terrorists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The question is, who are the persons behind the organisers of this terrorism? This is what the security agencies must help us to unravel,\u201d the governor said in a recent interview on Channels TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said bandits have taken over 64 communities in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs I am talking to you, there are not less than 64 communities that have been taken over by bandits on the Plateau between Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom local governments,\u201d Muftwang said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have been taken over, renamed, and people are living there conveniently on lands they pushed people away to occupy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Federal Government has been talking tough following the recent wave of attacks, vowing to flush out the assailants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, \u201cordered the immediate and comprehensive deployment of police tactical assets to the affected areas of the state\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"