PLATEAU AGAIN! Father, son killed as Jos touched by fresh bandit attack

By OUR REPORTER, Jos

Another bandit attack has reportedly occurred in Durbi village of Shere district, Jos East Local Government Area, leaving two dead

The latest attack was coming even after the military had claimed to know the way to handle the evil merchants involved in the current wave of violence in the state and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had visited disclosing his deployments of personnel and equipment to curb the menace.

The DEFENDER reports that over 160 people had been killed in the Christmas eve attacks on Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas leading to the military and police pronouncements.

However, after the Christmas even attacks, two fresh ones ha e taken place including the latest killing two persons identified to be platter and son in Jos East.

Transition Implementation Committee Chairman, Markus Nyam, confirmed the latest attack on Sunday, revealing the attackers invaded the Durbi village Saturday night of December 30 killed a father and his son.

Nyam also said that the efforts of the vigilantes in the community who engaged the assailants resulted in the death of one of the attackers as others fled.

The Joint Security Task Force Operation Safe Haven personnel also responded to the community’s distress call, preventing the attackers from causing more damage.

Service chiefs visit Plateau

In the meantime, the Nigeria’s service chiefs led by Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa alongside the trio of Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Hassan Abubakar; and Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, as well as Minister of State for Defence, Hon. Bello Muhammed Matawalle, visited the affected areas of Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi communities on Sunday.

Also in the company of the service chiefs was the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

Christmas attack

Several houses were said to have been set ablaze by the attackers who also looted farm produce and destroyed properties in the process.

Nearly 200 people died in the attacks that began on the evening of December 23 and lasted through the morning of December 26 wracked by violence for years.

Religious and ethnic tensions have for years roiled the province, which lies between the Muslim-majority north and mainly Christian south.

The recent attacks led to nearly 20,000 people, mostly women and children, leaving some 20 villages around Bokkos and Barkin Ladi.

They are now sheltering in 23 camps set up by the Red Cross.

Aid imminent

Grieving residents gathered at a stadium in the Bokkos Local Government Area (LGA) awaiting VP Kashim Shettima’s arrival during a visit to the region on Wednesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima said aid would arrive shortly.

“I will personally supervise it, and ensure that none of it is hijacked by anybody,” said Caleb Mutfwang, the state governor.

Yuhanna Audu from the national rescue agency NEMA told AFP that supplies were coming and distribution should start within two days.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered “security agencies to immediately move in, scour every stretch of the zone, and apprehend the culprits”.

Northwest and central Nigeria have been long terrorised by bandit militias operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.

Competition for natural resources between nomadic herders and farmers, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has also exacerbated social tensions and sparked violence.

A jihadist conflict has raged in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing around two million, as Boko Haram jihadists battle for supremacy with rivals linked to the Islamic State group.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement he was “deeply alarmed” by the Christmas weekend attacks.

“The cycle of impunity fuelling recurrent violence must be urgently broken. The government should also take meaningful steps to address the underlying root causes and to ensure non-recurrence of this devastating violence,” he said.