Again, 11 killed, several houses burnt, as Gov Lalong condemns attack in Plateau

There are strong indications that the peace path signed between Irigwe and Fulani herdsmen in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State has broken down as no fewer than 11 persons were killed and several houses burnt in a midnight raid by gunmen suspected to be killer herdsmen at Te’egbe community of the council on Friday.

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has condemned the latest attack.

The local government especially the Irigwe axis has been under constant attack by gunmen suspected to be killer herdsmen for quite some time leading to the death of several people, burning of houses and destruction of farmlands.

Piqued by the ugly development, a peace parley was organised in October this year by Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace Centre DREP Jos where both parties embraced one another and expressed their willingness to work together.

A source close to the Te’egbe community where the latest incident occurred, said the gunmen at about 1:00 am on Friday invaded the community and unleashed terror on the inhabitants, killing and burning houses at random

According to him, before the people of the community could put their act together to defend themselves, eleven persons have killed and several houses were burnt.

The Secretary-General Irigwe Development Association Mr Danjuma Auta who confirmed the attack said a week back it was on the social media that some group of herdsmen sent a threat message to the military asking for free grazing in all communities in Irigwe land or be ready to face the worse.

“Although the military dismissed such threat but the Marauder’s made right their claims as they attacked Ancha village on Tuesday 23th November 2021 and killed 2 people.
Again this same Fulani herders attacked the Village of Ta’agbe in the early hour of Friday and as at now we have already established the death of 11 people while the search is ongoing”

He narrated that the people of Irigwe were worried because of time without number both the Irigwe and Fulani had met at different fora and agreed to embrace peace.

He said ; “we have met at different fora with the Fulani community that we know and have promised to embrace peace but with the renewed attacks on our innocent citizens we wonder if the peace Accord entered is anything to hold on to.

As far as the Irigwe nation has embraced peace and is also ready to continue to pursue the path of peace with everyone, however, we’ll not close our eyes to the deceit that we are witnessing today

“If those who are saddled with the constitutional responsibility of protecting us feel overwhelmed and can no longer guarantee us our safety anymore. They should come out publicly and tell Nigerians. Our people are beginning to loose confidence in any security outfit since even their presence could not stop, arrest or neutralise toe attackers, this speaks volumes of how endangered our people have become”

Danjuma who said embraces the Monopis only of violence added that once attacks have been taking place, no single Fulani Hamlet has been attacked by an Irigwe man.

“They bunt our several communities who are their herds on yet to be cultivated farms and killed our people feel we have n toot say anything. , therefore, re are pleading with the President of our dear nation to come to our rescue before it’s too late” he declared.

Meanwhile, all attempts to reach the State Police Public Relation Officer ASP Gabriel Ogaba on phone proved abortive.

Governor Lalong in a statement signed by his Director of Press Affairs Dr Makut Simon Macham said the attack was another sad incident which was clearly the handiwork of criminals that were bent on instilling fear, pain and sorrow among the people with a view to destabilising the State and making fortune from their criminality as well as rupturing the substantial peace attained.

The Governor totally condemns the attack and says there is no explanation that can justify it. He, therefore, directs security agencies to take immediate and drastic steps to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure that they pay for their crimes.

Lalong said “the persistent attacks in this general area remains condemnable and unacceptable to Government. As such, no resources and efforts will be spared in painstakingly following up on the trail of those who derive joy in attacking and killing innocent citizens and destroying their homes and means of livelihood. I expect the security agencies to deploy everything at their disposal to arrest those who carried out the crime no matter how long it takes. The government will not take any excuse for failure to achieve this directive”.

Lalong while commiserating with the victims and families of those killed, assured that they will get justice as Government will stop at nothing to unravel those behind these ugly incidences that continue to disrupt the livelihoods of the people of the Local Government.

Lalong also directed the Plateau State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Peace Building Agency (PBA) to immediately visit the area and assess the level of damage to carry out immediate intervention and bring succour to people who are in need as a result of the barbaric attack.

He also calls on the people to assist the security agencies with relevant information that will enable them to crack the identity and motives of the attacks.

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