How suspected Fulani herdsmen kill 27 in fresh Plateau attack

Over 27 persons have been killed while asleep in Nkiedonwhro community, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State by unknown gunmen suspected to be Fulani militants. The killings happened barely 48 hours after the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew by Governor Simon Lalong in the LGA. The latest attack was about the third in the LGA since Friday when the governor imposed the indefinite dusk-to-dawn curfew. As of the time of this report, the Plateau State Government was said to be in a security meeting, after which it would make its position on the killings known. Our correspondent learnt that the gunmen stormed the village in the early hours of Monday, shooting indiscriminately. While one account said 20 persons were killed in a classroom where they ran into for safety, an eyewitness said the villagers were killed in a classroom where they were evacuated to by security operatives. A resident, who did not want to be quoted, said while some of the people killed had been given a mass burial, those injured were being treated at various hospitals in the Bassa LGA. Reacting to the allegation of soldiers’ involvement in the killing, the Special Military Special Task Force, codenamed, Operation Safe Haven, deployed to restore law and order in Plateau State, promised to investigate the alleged involvement of soldiers in the killings. The Commander of OPSH, Maj. Gen. Anthony Atolagbe, made the pledge on Monday evening when he went for an on-the-spot assessment of the attack in the village. He said, “Soldiers have been sent to the headquarters of the OPSH for a proper investigation on how the attack took place in the village under their watch, especially when curfew was imposed in the village and there was supposed to be restriction on movement". Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has said the “madness” in Plateau State which led to recent killings of at least 20 people has gone too far. He has, therefore, instructed the military and the police to bring the violence to an end. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement. Read more @