Boko Haram attacks Plateau Villages, kills 26, burns 45 houses. Gov Jang declares dusk to dawn curfew

Boko Haram attacks Plateau Villages, kills 26, burns 45 houses. Gov Jang declares dusk to dawn curfew

Unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents have attacked some communities in Barkin Ladi local government of Plateau state killing 26 members of the community in the process.

The two communities attacked in succession are Inding village and Ropp village, both in Barkin Ladi local government.

The terrorists burnt some houses to ashes in some villages, including one in Ropp village where a whole family, including those that came to seek refuge totalling nine, were roasted alive in the inferno.

The chairman of Barkin Ladi local government, Hon Emmanuel Loman not only confirmed the attacks, but added that the attackers numbering hundreds, first of all, surrounded the village preventing the villagers from escape before unleashing mayhem.

According to him, “These killings are becoming too much and we have been shouting on top of our voices but the appropriate authorities paid deaf ears to our cries.

“In the last two weeks, over sixty people has been Killed by gunmen in Barkin Ladi local government alone.”

One of the victims of the Ropp attack who escaped narrowly, Samson Dadu said, “At first, the gunmen came and rustle 38 cows from the village. Those cows were recovered the next day by the special task force when the stolen cows were being transported to the local government.

“But after recovering the stolen cows from the Fulanis, they mobilize themselves and attacked people of Inding village where they killed 7 people.

“The next day the attackers came in hundreds and surrounded the whole village, they set every house ablaze and if the occupants of the house try to escape they are either shot dead or hacked down with matchet.

“The attackers are heavily armed, soldiers of the special task force cannot even challenge them,” he said.

The villagers said they have so far recovered 27 bodies and they are still searching.

However, the special task force on Jos crisis code named ‘operation safe haven’ was not available to comment on the attacks.

The line of the spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha was said to be switched off when contacted.

The state governor Jonah David Jang has announced a dusk to dawn curfew in the local government to halt the spate of attacks last week. But in spite of that, gun men raided the villages indiscriminately in nights and days.