NINE persons were reportedly killed on Tuesday, November 15, by unknown gunmen in Maikatako community, Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The ICIR gathered that the gunmen stormed the community late in the night and set many houses on fire.
A resident of Maikato community, John Bature, who spoke to The Punch on Wednesday, November 16, said they had retired to their beds when they heard sporadic gunshots.
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Bature said, “On Tuesday, we did not sleep owing to an attack on our community by gunmen. It was by the grace of God that I was not killed. Many of our people have already retired to their beds when some persons carrying guns entered the community and started shooting around 9:30 pm. Many people who tried to run were shot. Only this morning, I learnt that nine of the villagers were killed by the gunmen who also set several houses ablaze.”
Confirming the incident, the spokesman for the Military taskforce in charge of maintaining peace in the state, Captain Oya James, said the timely intervention by security operatives saved the situation.
James confirmed the attack but wouldn’t give a precise casualty figure.
“It was around 11:00 pm on Tuesday that somebody alerted us of an ongoing attack in a community along Bokkos road. We quickly deployed our men and the intervention was very helpful in stopping the attackers in their mission.
“Those killed were not up nine. I will get back to you to give you the actual figure but the situation is calm now, ” he said.
Efforts by The ICIR to get the reaction of the Plateau State Police Command were not successful.
Spokesperson of the Command Alfred Alabo could not be reached on the phone.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M