About 21 people have been killed in an early morning attack on Kukek community of Bakin Kogi Foron district of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen attacked the community yesterday.
Gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen attacked the community yesterday.
They razed the home of one Mr. Tsok Gwom about 2am, killed nine members of the family and rustled some cattle from the villagers.
A source said Gwom, his five children, and three women were shot dead.
One of the women was identified as Gwom’s wife.
The residents said the gunshots alerted the community’s vigilance group, who confronted the gunmen and killed 12 of them. Many of the vigilante members also sustained various degrees of injury.
When contacted, the Interim Administrator of Barkin Ladi Local Government, Hon. Habila Dung, confirmed the attack.
He said: “Yes, I received a distress call about the attack, and I immediately alerted the security, but I have not received a feedback. When I get the detail of the incident I will let you know.”
The Commissioner for Information, Yiljap Abraham, and the Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Ayuba Pam, could not immediately confirm the attack, but said they would brief journalists as soon as they had details on the attack.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Felicia Anslem, also confirmed the incident, but said she could not confirm the casualty figure.
Meanwhile, the Special Task Force, STF, maintaining peace in Plateau State, said the attackers killed 11 people while soldiers killed five of the gunmen.
The STF Commander, Maj.-Gen. David Enetie, who confirmed the incident in Jos, also confirmed the killing of five of the attackers by the STF.
Enetie said the cattle rustlers killed eight members of one family and two others while a neighbour, who came out to assist the victims, was also killed.
He disclosed that STF operatives, who rushed to the scene of the incident, killed five of the suspected cattle rustlers.
The commander said the corpses of the five suspected cattle rustlers had been deposited at the Mangu Police Station, while those of the 11 villagers had been taken to Plateau State Specialist Hospital.
Enetie explained that the incident was not part of any crisis.
He said: “What happened here was not crisis; it was a clear case of cow theft by a group of cattle rustlers.”
The commander said the cow thieves rustled 20 cows but could not escape with their loot after the STF’s quick intervention.
He commended the intelligence unit of the STF for its timely information that enabled his men to quickly storm the scene of the incident and called for more information from the public to enable the task force rid the state of criminals.
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