At least thirty people were killed when gunmen stormed Kwahaslalek village in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State early on Wednesday morning.
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Following a riot in Mangu town earlier in the day, the victims—most of whom were women and children—had fled to the home of a local community leader on Tuesday night in search of safety. That’s when the gunmen ambushed and killed them all.
In Jos, the state capital, community leader Mark Haruna verified the dead toll to PUNCH Online on Wednesday.
“What happened at Sabon Gari and Mangu town yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) was just a diversion to divert people’s attention away from the villages,” Haruna stated.
“Last night, on Tuesday, gunmen attacked my village, Kwahaslalek, which is located behind the NYSC camp, for the second time. Around 1:30 am, they arrived and murdered over 25 individuals, the bulk of them were women and children.
Joseph Gwankat, the chairman of the Mwaghavul Development Association, confirmed the killing and called it heartless.
“What transpired in Mangu town during the day yesterday kept me up last night.” I recently learned that Kwahaslalek village was attacked last night, resulting in the deaths of roughly thirty individuals.
According to what I’ve been informed, many villages were alarmed by yesterday’s disturbances in Mangu Town. A few villagers left to evacuate their loved ones and gathered them in what they believed to be a secure location.
He claimed, “So the killers went to Kwahaslalek village where the people were gathered, mostly women and children, and killed them all in the night.”
“I was informed that no security was on ground to save the villagers,” the chairman continued, denouncing the tragedy. This is the height of wickedness. How is it possible for villagers to live in fear of ongoing violence and murders when nothing is being done to apprehend those who commit these crimes?
When reached, Alabo Alfred, a spokesman for the state police command, stated he had not yet received the incident report.
“I haven’t heard anything about that report. Allow me to contact my Commander. If something similar did occur, we will look into the matter,” the PPRO stated.
On Tuesday (yesterday), Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of Plateau State, imposed a 24-hour curfew on the Mangu Local Government Area.
He said that the decision was made in response to the area’s worsening security following disturbances that resulted in the burning of many homes, including churches and mosques.
The state is still recovering from the attacks on Christmas Eve that targeted three local government districts.
In the Barkin Ladi, Mangu, and Bokkos regions of the state, gunmen had surged into the villages of Ndun, Ngyong, Murfet, Makundary, Tamiso, Chiang, Tahore, Gawarba, Dares, Meyenga, Darwat, and Butura Kampani, shooting and setting houses on fire.
The incident is said to have killed about 150 people.
