IN two days, at least 150 people have been killed by terrorists in different attacks in Plateau and Benue states even as President Muhammadu Buhari continue to issue directives to security agencies without results.
During an attack on Kanama and Wase communities in Plateau State on Sunday, about 130 persons were killed by armed men who burnt down houses and shops.
A resident, Ahmadu Salim, from Kukawa area, said the attackers invaded the community bearing arms on motorcycles.
“The attackers came on several motorcycles, riding dangerously, firing shots at fleeing natives and setting buildings ablaze,” Salim said.
The State Commissioner for Information, Daniel Majang, who confirmed the attack to The ICIR, said the number of residents who lost their lives in the attack is yet to be confirmed.
“We are still working with the police and other security operatives in the state to ascertain the number of lives lost; some say 50, some 70, some even said 150, but we can’t give a specific figure now,” he said.
Majang noted that security operatives had been deployed to the affected areas to restore stability.
However, the spokesperson for the Plateau Elders Forum, Jonathan Ishaku, told The ICIR on Tuesday that over 130 corpses have been found since the attack.
“There is no specific figure yet, our earlier statement said it’s 50 people but we have been searching bushes and other places. Now we have about 130 bodies,” he said.
Also, in Benue State, some armed men simultaneously attacked three local governments on Monday, killing about 25 residents.
The affected areas are Tse-Sumaka village in the Mbadwem Council Ward of Guma Local Government Area (LGA), Avalumun Ioraav in Logo LGA and Tiortyu community in Tarka LGA.
About 25 residents were reportedly killed in the attacks but residents are still searching bushes for corpses.
On Tuesday Buhari condemned the attack in a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
“As full details emerge on the scale of the brutal terrorist attacks in Kanam and Wase communities in Plateau State, President Muhammadu Buhari has described the killings as heinous, saying that the perpetrators should not be allowed to escape justice.”
The statement also said Buhari directed that the attackers should not be spared or forgiven.
Buhari also ordered law enforcement agencies to “work strenuously with the government of the state, to bring the situation under control and take steps to bring the culprits to justice quickly”.
Buhari’s statement is similar to his response to the attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train that occurred on March 28.
Buhari told security operatives to ‘hunt down’ the perpetrators and ensure that all kidnapped passengers were rescued.
Only one of the abducted passengers, Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture Alwan Ali-Hassan, has been released in a viral video, while others are still held by the terrorists.
Such rhetoric with less action has characterised most of the government’s fight against insecurity since 2015.
The ICIR had reported that in three months, from January to March, 1,308 civilians were killed in violent attacks, while 1,333 were kidnapped, across Nigeria.
The report highlighted the worsening level of insecurity across the country, especially in the North.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94