The authorities reported today that the number of people who died from last Saturday night to this Monday increased from 50 to 113 in several attacks by armed individuals perpetrated in the state of Plateauin the center of Nigeria.
Although local authorities initially indicated that an attack had taken place on Saturday in the town of Mushuin the territory of Bokkosother localities were also the object of violence in that area and in the areas of mangu and Barkin-Ladi which lasted until this Monday.
“The attacks were well coordinated. No less than 20 different communities were attacked by bandits” the Chairman of the Transition Committee of Bokkos Local Government Area told reporters, Monday Kassah.
“We have recovered 113 bodies from those communities. We have recovered more than 300 injured“, Kassah stressed, specifying that the injured were evacuated to different hospitals.
“Security personnel have been doing everything they can. The difficult terrain to reach these communities meant that security did not arrive in time to prevent these attacks.”he added.
Previously, the governor of Plateau, Caleb Muftwanghad estimated the dead at more than fifty.
“According to the intelligence report I have, more than 50 people have been killed in Mangu and Bokkos in the last 48 hours“said the governor in a meeting with the military.
“This is unacceptable. It’s enough. These stupid, senseless and unprovoked acts must stop”Muftwang stressed, quoted by local media.
However, the governor emphasized that “no attack will break the spirit of the people of Plateau”.
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Plateau lies on the dividing line between the largely Muslim north of Nigeria and the largely Christian south, and has endured ethnic and religious tensions for years.
A community leader told local newspaper The Nation, on condition of anonymity, that Mushu locals suspect that the gunmen are herdsmen, who invaded the community and opened fire at will.
The president of the Plateau Youth Ethnic Nationalities Coalition, Paul Daketepreviously confirmed to EFE the attack in Mushu, just as the Army had done, both putting the death toll at 16.
“I can confirm the death of 16 people after gunmen attacked Mushu village in Bokkos Local Government Area on Saturday night”, Dakete told EFE today.
“The villagers were asleep when the gunmen attacked them in their homes, ending their lives.“said the president of that civil society organization.
Dakete emphasized that the killings turned what should have been a Christmas celebration into a period of mourning in the town, and urged authorities to put an end to these types of attacks because “the madness must end”.
The state governor condemned “the brutal attacks on innocent residents” and ordered security forces to arrest “perpetrators of heinous acts and ensure that they face the full force of the law”.
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Mutfwang urged communities across the state to “remain alert and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement for immediate action“, according to a statement issued by its Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Bere.
In Plateau State, clashes between communities of farmers, mostly Christian, and herders of the Fulani people, mainly Muslim, are common due to differences over the use of land and the scarce natural resources available.
In addition, some Nigerian states – especially in the center and northwest of the country – suffer incessant attacks by “bandits“, a term used in the country to name criminal gangs that commit mass assaults and kidnappings to achieve large ransoms and who are often branded by the authorities as “terrorists”.
