Mr. Simon Lalong, Governor of Plateau state.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – Fresh attacks have claimed over a dozen lives including women and children in two separate incidents in Jos North and Riyom local government areas of Plateau State.
The two local government areas are in Plateau North Senatorial zone which has experienced such attacks for over decade.
The State government, Senator representing Plateau North Senatorial zone, Management Committee Chairman of Jos North Local Government and the State Police Command have reacted to the incidents.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan 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.”
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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 remains sacrosanct in the State. The Administration would continue to take measures and work 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 near by 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. Investigation is ongoing, Frantic effort is on to arrest the fleeing suspects.”
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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.
However, the Management Committee Chairman of Jos North, Shehu Usman through his Senior Information Officer, Philip Eplong said, “The Management Committee Chairman condemns in strong terms the killing of innocent citizens by unknown persons in Dong village of Jos North last night.”
Usman called on the inhabitants of the area “not to take laws into their hands as security agencies are doing everything possible to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.”
