THE Police in Plateau State have confirmed the killing of 10 residents of Kashe community in Jos South Local Government Area (LGA) by unknown gunmen on Sunday.
In a statement released on Monday, the spokesperson for the command Ubah Ogaba disclosed that the gunmen opened fire on villagers after invading the community in a Hilux van on Sunday night.
“Personnel of the command and the military have been deployed to the affected area. The commissioner of police has ordered an immediate investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the killing and to bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book,” the police spokesperson said in the statement.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), however, reported that 12 people were killed while five were injured during the attack.
Those who sustained injury were currently receiving treatment, according to NAN.
The level of insecurity in Jos has escalated in recent years.
In June, about seven people, including children, were killed in Dong, a community in Jos South LGA of Plateau State.
The unidentified gunmen who carried out the attack had invaded Dong through the surrounding bushes and fled before the arrival of the police.
In April, The ICIR reported attacks on a mining site by gunmen. Eight miners were killed in the incident, while several others were injured.
Reacting to the killing of the miners, Governor of Plateau State Simon Lalong said in a statement that the narrative of unknown gunmen would no longer be accepted from security agencies in the state.
He directed security personnel to identify perpetrators of the attacks.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.