Not less than 26 people have reportedly been killed, with
over 80 houses burnt in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State in
the last one week by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
This was made known in statement issued on Friday in Jos by the
national caretaker committee chairman of Berom Youth Movement (BYM),
Rwang Dantong, a copy obtained by ThisDay.
Dantong, who revealed that, the late Senator Gyang Dantong’s house
was also razed, condemned the
incident on behalf of the entire Berom
youths saying; “we condemn in strong terms, the persistent and
systematic attacks on our communities by gunmen suspected to be Fulani
herdsmen as this is a declaration of war.”
He disclosed that the persistent attacks have been on daily basis
since Thursday October 2, and listed the affected communities as Lwa,
Shonong, Fang, Dum Chengy, Rakweng, Diyan Rachi and Sharubutu villages
of Bachi district of the local government area. He said over 60 houses
were burnt last Tuesday and few days later, another 20 houses were burnt
in Lwa village, including a COCIN Pastor’s resident and church.
Dantong further revealed that those killed in the past few days
comprised a pregnant woman in Lwa and an intended bride whose wedding
was scheduled to take place (today) October 11, 2014.
“It is quite worrisome that the insurgents have been identified
as the Fulani herdsmen that are living within our communities, and yet
nothing has been done about it. Government and all relevant stakeholders
should immediately come to the rescue of our people. We are calling on
members of the Special Task Force (STF) to keep vigil on the district to
fish out the perpetrators of this act,” Dantong said.
In a related development, residents of Yelwa community of Shendam
Local Government Area of the state were thrown into panic following
reports that gunmen have allegedly surrounded the community. No few than
1, 000 cows were said to have been stolen by armed bandits a night
before.
When contacted, the Chairman of the youth wing of Yelwa Development
Association, Yakubu Haruna Dan-Gawan, confirmed the incident and
revealed that the security operatives have been informed about the
development, assuring that there was no cause for alarm.
He said this was the same pattern that was followed in 2004 when
Yelwa was invaded by arms bandits, revealing that they were attacked
after their cattles were stolen.
“Our people panic because some armed persons came into our
community and stole over 100 cattle on Thursday night, and now the news
is that the same bandits had surrounded the community and so we alerted
security operatives who assured us that the community was secure,” he said.
It would be recalled that at least 6 people lost their lives and 2 churches were burnt in an early morning attacks on two more communities, Gako and Tanjol, in the same LGA of the state.
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