The Militias terrorizing Plateau communities struck again on Tuesday, killing community leader Agwom Mazat in Barakin-Ladi local government area and seven others at Mungu and Riyom councils, respectively.
A source close to Barakin-Ladi local government told Nigerian Tribune that the community leader was shot dead in the early hours of Tuesday while working on his farm with other people.
The source revealed saying” The Community leader Agwom Mazat was gunned down on his farm in the early hours of today at about 8:35 a.m. The gunmen shot him at close range and made sure he died before they bolted away. He was the only one killed, while other people working with him on the farm escaped unhurt.
“The entire Mazat has been thrown into mourning. The attack on him was a big surprise to us. We want to believe that the militias had been monitoring him and the community before they struck.”
Also, the militias on rampage attacked Sohon Kareng community of Kareng District of Mangu local government at about 7:40 p.m. on Monday and held the community hostage for more than thirty minutes by shooting and destroying properties.
An eyewitness disclosed that five people were killed in the attack, including a man and his wife, adding that the militias also set houses on fire and destroyed farms before they disappeared.
It was gathered that the militias came to the community through the Swan Water Bottling Company in Kerang with sophisticated weapons to unleash terror on the community.
Another set of Fulani militias equally invaded Wereng-Camp and Wereng in the Riyom local government area of the state, where two people were killed on their farms.
It was gathered that the attackers raided the two communities simultaneously and killed the two people identified as Nas Chuwang and Amos Dung, both of whom were twenty years of age, while eighteen others were injured.
When contacted by the Spokesman of the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alfred Alabo said he had not heard of the attack but would confirm it with the DPO of the affected local government and get back, but he has not gotten back as of the time of filling out this report.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria (ECCV), Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, said the attack has become a daily occurrence and it is like the people of the affected communities are targeted for annihilation.
Mwantiri told the Nigerian Tribune that the silence of the security agencies over the unfortunate incidences is an encouragement for the militias to continue with their nefarious onslaught against the natives, who are predominantly farmers.
”There was no arrest of the culprits, while the few natives that wanted to put up a resistance to the attacks were often arrested. Apart from the killings, farms were often destroyed to inflict hunger on the people. From all indications, there is a deliberate plan to overrun some communities in Plateau State.” he said.