Family Of Eight Murdered In Jos …As Securities Get ‘Shoot At Sight’ Order

Eight members of a family were murdered in a mid night attack by unknown persons at Heipang, near Jos, in the early hours of Sunday.

Among the victims of the attack suspected to be carried out by Fulani herdsmen, were the head of the household, Mr Chollom Gyang, his wife, Hannatu and six children including a three-year old baby.

Our source who visited the house, observed that some of the victims had deep machete cuts all over their bodies, while others suffered gunshot injuries.

Mr Emmanuel Dachollom, Chairman, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, told newsmen that the assailants came from Mahangar, a Fulani community in the area.

“We have made appeals to the Federal Government; we have told them that the people in the area (Mahangar) have lots of sophisticated weapons, but government has refused to do anything about it. I personally complained to a Federal Government delegation that came to investigate the killing, last month, of eight members of another family, but our concerns and fears have been ignored.”

He said that men of the Military Special Task Force (STF) recently searched a house in Mahangar and recovered sophisticated weapons but that they did not have the will to search the whole community.

Dachollom warned that unless the weapons in the area were mopped up, they would continue to constitute threats to the communities in the area.

“Now, our people have been pushed to the wall. We have been appealing to them to be calm and not take the laws into their hands. We do not know for how long we can wait for government to protect us. If our youths go on rampage, nobody should blame us; we have asked them to constitute themselves into vigilante groups to defend themselves against aggressors,” he said.

Hon. Gyang Fulani, representing the area in the Plateau State House of Assembly, said that the people could no longer trust government to protect them as it had failed them with the constant attacks.

He regretted that the security personnel had not been able to fish out the attackers as no single arrest had been made, and accused the STF of lacking the will to stop the Jos crisis.

“We said few years ago, terrorists were in the country but government didn’t take us seriously. Now, it is glaring from the security challenges all over the country. The terrorists in Plateau are easy to fight because they are known, but government is complacent about confronting these fundamentalists. It is a ticking time bomb that will soon explode,” Fulani said.

He challenged the people of his constituency to rise up to the security threats and defend themselves against the aggressors at all cost.

“We will never calm the youths again; we will allow them to rise up to protect their communities and their land from these unprovoked attacks. “We now know who the aggressors are. When police advised Izala sect leader Sani Jingir, not to go to Rukuba road for the Sallah prayer, he refused and has now put the whole Jos into crisis,” he stated.

Mr Francis Jamang, National President, Berom Youth Movement, said the situation had reached a stage where they might be forced to take the laws into their hands if their attackers were not brought to book.

“The Berom people have now been pushed to the wall; no one should blame us for whatever action we take,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Plateau State Government has condemned the new wave of killings and tasked the communities to be alert so as to defend themselves against aggressors.

Mr Abraham Yiljap, the Commissioner for Information, told newsmen that government was sad that violence had continued in spite of efforts to restore peace.

“No matter the number of military and police personnel, they are not enough to protect everyone. So government is calling on community and religious leaders and politicians to enlighten their people to help themselves. Arrangements should be made to protect the people; let people take measures to safeguard lives and property in every community,” he said.

Yiljap, however, tasked the various community and ethnic groups to adopt dialogue, saying that dialogue still remained the best solution to the lingering crisis.

Police Commissioner Emmanuel Ayeni, could not be reached for comments, while the Command’s spokesman, Apev Jacob, could not comment on the development.

Capt. Charles Ekeocha, the spokesman of the Military Special Task Force (STF) maintaining security in Plateau State, in his reaction to the attacks, said that the STF had no business with the area.

He explained that the STF withdrew its men after the communities in the area said

they did not want them.

He said: “The security of that area is not the concern of the STF; they have said that we are responsible for the attacks. In fact, officials from the army headquarters came and investigated the claims of the communities and we are still awaiting the outcome of their findings.”

“They have always accused our men of the attacks, so I do not know who could have attacked them now that our men have been withdrawn,” he queried.

Reminded that the STF was in charge of security in the entire Plateau, Ekeocha agreed, but quickly added that soldiers were not in charge of that specific area since they had been accused of masterminding the attacks over time.

“There was even a time they claimed to have picked military ID cards at the scene of such attacks. So we are out of their area. I suggest you contact the police or the Plateau-owned security outfit, Operation Rainbow,” he said.

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi (middle) his wife, Dame Judith Amaechi and the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Werinipre Seibarugu during the service of songs for Late Madam Margaret Nnena Abe at the Civic Center, Port Harcourt, last Thursday.