THE dust raised by the murder of 25 travellers last Saturday in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State has yet to settle. Commentators have described the massacre as barbaric.
The travellers who were moving in a convoy of five buses were said to be heading to Ikare in Ondo State after attending a religious programme in Bauchi State when they came under attack from some armed men on Rukuba Road. Twenty-five of the travellers lost their lives in the process. The assault was first reported to have been carried out by some Irigwe youths who were heading to Bassa for a mass burial. The youths were reported to have been angry over continuous killings in their area, Bassa Local Government, allegedly by Fulani mercenaries. But that narrative was later disputed with the mourners said to have been nowhere near the scene of the incident on the fateful day.
However, the incident sparked tension among adherents of the two major religions in the state, Islam and Christianity, resulting in highly charged situations in areas like Terminus, Bauchi Road, tomatoes market in Farin Gada and Angwan Rukuba. Last Sunday, roadblocks were mounted to protest the killing of the travellers. Some hapless members of the society were killed by miscreants in the areas, while other victims were inflicted with injuries.
To forestall further aggression and reprisals, the governor of the state, Simon Bako Lalong, imposed a 24-hour curfew on Jos North Local Government Area and a dusk to dawn curfew on Jos South and Bassa local government areas.
But in spite of the curfew, miscreants continued to perpetrate violence. Three students of the University of Jos were reportedly killed while others were declared missing as a result of the escalation of last Saturday’s attack on the travellers. Some of the injured students are currently receiving treatment at various hospitals in the state capital.
Survivors of last Saturday’s attack and the resultant disturbances that took place within the Jos metropolis the following day recounted their ordeals when Saturday Tribune called at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital where they were receiving treatment.
Abubakar Adamu was among those attacked on Rukuba Road last Saturday. According to him, he and the others had left Bauchi at about 7.00 a.m. on the fateful day after attending an annual religious event called zikr.
Adamu said: “On getting to Rukuba Road in Jos, we were forced to stop by some youths who were wielding various dangerous weapons. Before we could offer any explanation as regards our identities or mission, they descended on us. I was stabbed in the back and I fell into a nearby gutter. They left me for dead. I remained in the ditch until a man I believe was a Christian took me in his tricycle to Jos Central Mosque.
“We didn’t know anywhere in Jos. We were just passing through. We didn’t know that there was crisis in the area. Had we known, we wouldn’t have passed through the area. There were many of us in the vehicles. They dragged us out one after the other and shot dead some at close range.”
The 34-year-old said his destination was Kabba in Kogi State and he had boarded one of the ill-fated vehicles alongside 10 others.
Another survivor, Musa Usman, said: “I cannot really recall how the incident happened. I only remember that we were attacked in a city called Jos. A group of the youths asked us to stop and we stopped. They asked all of us to come out from the vehicles and they started beating us. I later discovered that I was picked from a gutter and brought here by security men.
“Majority of us in the vehicles were from Ikare in Ondo State. I was born there. I had never experienced this kind of thing in my life. No weapon was found on anyone of us. Up to this moment, I don’t know why we were attacked.”
Asked why they used Rukuba Road instead of a normal route to their destination, Usman said: “I cannot answer that question; only the driver can explain why he used the road. I didn’t know anywhere and I was not familiar with the road. This was the first time I had travelled this road.”
Ibrahim Musa is also a survivor of the attack. He said he was hit with heavy stone by the assailants but he managed to escape their grip and ran into a nearby community where a group of Christians calmed him down and led him through another route to avoid being killed.
“We begged them not to kill or harm us because we had committed no crime but they refused to listen to our pleas. With blood all over me, I ran into a nearby community where a group of Christians aided my escape and handed me to security men. Some of us who survived the attack were rescued by Christians one way or the other because the attack occurred in a predominantly Christian community,” Musa said.
The reprisal
Apart from the survivors of the Rukuba Road attack, there are survivors of the skirmishes that followed on Sunday in Jos, the state capital. A woman, Talatu Gyang, said she was attacked by some Hausa youths while she was getting out of her car at a point opposite ECWA Goodnews Church on Sunday morning.
“They pulled me and my brother out of the car and stabbed us but my brother was able to manoeuvre the car away from the scene. A good Samaritan who saw us bleeding took the wheel and drove us to this hospital. We survived by a whisker. While we were trying to find our way out of the place, I saw three people lying on the ground covered in blood,” she said.
Israel Oyeniyi, who was on his way to church at about 8.30 on Sunday morning, was not spared by misreants. According to him, he was heading for the church in a tricycle when the rider suddenly stopped at Terminus and abandoned him and another passenger.
“Before we realised what was happening, a group of miscreants had swooped on us. I was able to escape but I fell some meters away. I was brought here by a taxi driver who I believe was a Muslim,” Oyeniyi said.
From all indications, students of the University of Jos recorded the highest casualty figure in the skirmishes that began on Sunday, 15 August, 2021. One Miss Doris Bitrus Dalyop was killed at Bauchi Road Junction between Bauchi Ring Road and the university gate. On the same day, an HND Accounting student of the Plateau State Polytechnic was killed at Farin Gada. The victim and others were said to be on their way to Bauchi for the graduation ceremony of his sister. Others in the bus they were travelling in were viciously attacked and inflicted with varying degrees of injury.
Also, a 400 medical student was stabbed in front of ‘the Students Village’ and was rushed to a hospital where he gave up the ghost.
Ezekiel Mafeng, a 300 level Economics student, has been declared missing.
Seven staff members of the Plateau Radio and Television Corporation (PRTVC) who had closed from work and were being conveyed home were said to have narrowly escaped being killed by some vengeful Hausa/Fulani men who mounted a blockade on Dadin Kowa Road on Wednesday at about 10.30 p.m.
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