Plateau: Over A Dozen Killed In Two Separate Attacks — State Govt

Residents of Plateau State were on Monday morning woken to
another sad day as over a dozen people including women and children
were killed on Sunday night in Dong Kasa in Jos North and Kwi in
Riyom local government area of the State.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan
Manjang, the Senator representing Plateau North Senatorial zone,
Istifanus Gyang and the spokesman of the State Police Command,
Gabriel Uba all confirmed the two separate incidents.

Manjang said, “The Plateau State Government is deeply saddened
by the reoccurrence of violence in parts of Dong Kasa in Jos North
Local Government Area and Kwi in Riyom on Sunday night where
innocent citizens including children and women were murdered in
cold blood. The act is barbaric, callous and a desperate attempt to
rupture the peace and security of the State.”

While commiserating with families that lost loved ones and
valuables in the two separate attacks, he added, “the Governor,
Simon Lalong is deeply distressed by the incident and has vowed to
ensure that the cherished values of peace and security and the
sanctity of lives remain sacrosanct in the State. The
Administration would continue to take measures and work for hand in
hand with security agencies for the protection of lives and
property of citizens.”

He noted that as soon as the Government was alerted about the
attack, it quickly reached out to security agencies who responded
immediately and have been in pursuit of the attackers with a view
to apprehending them and bringing them to justice and the
Commissioner reiterated that the capacity of the security agencies
for rapid response and intervention will be boosted once the
approved 50 patrol vehicles and 200 security motorcycles are
supplied.

Gyang who is the Senator representing the two areas added,
“Shortly after the IGP issued a Security Alert on likely terror
attacks on Jos and the FCT, the blood merchants have visited terror
on Dong community adjacent Wild Life Park, Jos and Kwi village,
adjacent Yakubu Gowon Airport Heipang on Sunday night, 23/05/21
where 16 persons were butchered to dead, including children.

Senator Gyang whose constituency and constituents have been
victims of sustained attacks, loss of lives and displacement from
ancestral homes, condemns in strong terms the renewed attacks as
being “dastardly, wicked and unwarranted.”

The Senator in a statement by his Special Assistant,
Media/Protocol, Musa Ashoms, noted with concern that “available
information indicates that some persons at a meeting with the
Police the week preceding the attacks vowed to visit mayhem on
helpless communities. It is therefore incumbent on the Plateau
State Police Commissioner to arrest and prosecute those very
persons forthwith.”

He further called for “decisive action against all those that
are known to security agencies, the OPSH, Police and the DSS for
the serial killings, displacement and forceful occupation of
ancestral homelands of communities in Plateau North as inaction on
this matter will amount to condonation and complicity.”

Reacting to the incidents, the PPRO explained, “On Sunday
23/05/2021 at about 2000hrs, the Command received a distress call
that yet to be identified gunmen came out suddenly from a nearby
bush, invaded Dong Village, Jos South LGA and killed seven persons.
A combined team of Policemen, STF, Vigilante operatives led by the
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Department of Operation, raced
swiftly to the scene but the hoodlums had already fled back into
the bush. The investigation is ongoing, Frantic effort is on to
arrest the fleeing suspects.”

Although the Police said, “Security has been beefed up in that
area to prevent escalation of violence,” it was gathered that
tension was still high in the affected communities at the time of
this report, women and children are fleeing the areas to safer
areas.

Residents of Plateau State were on Monday morning woken to
another sad day as over a dozen people including women and children
were killed on Sunday night in Dong Kasa in Jos North and Kwi in
Riyom local government area of the State.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan
Manjang, the Senator representing Plateau North Senatorial zone,
Istifanus Gyang and the spokesman of the State Police Command,
Gabriel Uba all confirmed the two separate incidents.

Manjang said, “The Plateau State Government is deeply saddened
by the reoccurrence of violence in parts of Dong Kasa in Jos North
Local Government Area and Kwi in Riyom on Sunday night where
innocent citizens including children and women were murdered in
cold blood. The act is barbaric, callous and a desperate attempt to
rupture the peace and security of the State.”

While commiserating with families that lost loved ones and
valuables in the two separate attacks, he added, “the Governor,
Simon Lalong is deeply distressed by the incident and has vowed to
ensure that the cherished values of peace and security and the
sanctity of lives remain sacrosanct in the State. The
Administration would continue to take measures and work for hand in
hand with security agencies for the protection of lives and
property of citizens.”

He noted that as soon as the Government was alerted about the
attack, it quickly reached out to security agencies who responded
immediately and have been in pursuit of the attackers with a view
to apprehending them and bringing them to justice and the
Commissioner reiterated that the capacity of the security agencies
for rapid response and intervention will be boosted once the
approved 50 patrol vehicles and 200 security motorcycles are
supplied.

Gyang who is the Senator representing the two areas added,
“Shortly after the IGP issued a Security Alert on likely terror
attacks on Jos and the FCT, the blood merchants have visited terror
on Dong community adjacent Wild Life Park, Jos and Kwi village,
adjacent Yakubu Gowon Airport Heipang on Sunday night, 23/05/21
where 16 persons were butchered to dead, including children.

Senator Gyang whose constituency and constituents have been
victims of sustained attacks, loss of lives and displacement from
ancestral homes, condemns in strong terms the renewed attacks as
being “dastardly, wicked and unwarranted.”

The Senator in a statement by his Special Assistant,
Media/Protocol, Musa Ashoms, noted with concern that “available
information indicates that some persons at a meeting with the
Police the week preceding the attacks vowed to visit mayhem on
helpless communities. It is therefore incumbent on the Plateau
State Police Commissioner to arrest and prosecute those very
persons forthwith.”

He further called for “decisive action against all those that
are known to security agencies, the OPSH, Police and the DSS for
the serial killings, displacement and forceful occupation of
ancestral homelands of communities in Plateau North as inaction on
this matter will amount to condonation and complicity.”

Reacting to the incidents, the PPRO explained, “On Sunday
23/05/2021 at about 2000hrs, the Command received a distress call
that yet to be identified gunmen came out suddenly from a nearby
bush, invaded Dong Village, Jos South LGA and killed seven persons.
A combined team of Policemen, STF, Vigilante operatives led by the
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Department of Operation, raced
swiftly to the scene but the hoodlums had already fled back into
the bush. The investigation is ongoing, Frantic effort is on to
arrest the fleeing suspects.”

Although the Police said, “Security has been beefed up in that
area to prevent escalation of violence,” it was gathered that
tension was still high in the affected communities at the time of
this report, women and children are fleeing the areas to safer
areas.