Three persons between 70 and 100 years old have been confirmed dead and over 12 houses burnt during an attack by Fulani herdsmen in Huke village, Miango District in the Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The victims are Ahmadu Hwie (male, 100), Odoh Hwie (male, 90), and Gado Kondo (male, 70).
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the attack, which caught the villagers off guard, was carried out at about 8pm on Friday, following the peace brokered by the Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Adie Undie.
But the police said the suspected herdsmen “have adopted guerrilla tactics of hit and run,” for which it had deployed operatives of the state Investigation and Intelligence Bureau “to intelligently sniff for information to end the attacks and bring perpetrators to book.”
The Chairman, Committee on Health in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Simon Ahile, representing Rukuba/Irigwe constituency, told our correspondent that as representatives of their constituencies, there was nothing the legislators could do because the responsibility of protecting lives and property was that of Governor Simon Lalong.
He said, “Even when we talk, we are not the people to implement policies or laws made by parliament. The governor is the chief security officer, and therefore, for anything concerning security, he is supposed to come out and address the people of the state.
“As a legislator, I can only talk, but I don’t have the security apparatus. We are only calling on government to take action because it is the responsibility of government to protect lives and property.”
The spokesperson for the Plateau State Police Command, Matthias Tyopev, confirmed the killing of the three elderly men.
He said, “On January 26 at about 18:30hrs, while our men were sustaining patrols around Rafi-Bauna and Jebu-Miango areas, they received information that at about 18:15hrs of the same date, a gang of armed men, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, were seen killing people and burning down houses at Huke village in Miango Chiefdom, Bassa LGA of Plateau State.
“On receipt of this information, they immediately mobilised to the area. While getting close to the village, the suspected herdsmen, on sighting our patrol vehicles, took to their heels. As a result of the attack, some people were shot and killed.”
No comments:
Post a Comment