The Plateau State Government has condemned the Wednesday night attack by unknown gunmen on Mile-Bakwai village in Bokkos, and described the development as “very unsettling’’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 18 persons, including a 70-year-old woman, Kaka Kiwo, were killed by the attackers.
Navy Captain Jude Akpa, Media Officer of the Special Task Force (STF) maintaining the peace in Plateau, who confirmed the attack, said that the STF also killed six of the suspected attackers and made some arrests.
In a statement signed by Mr Abraham Yiljap, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, the government decried the incessant loss of lives to such night attacks that were creating disaffection among communities that had long lived together.
The government vowed to “use every legal and constitutional means to maintain law and order’’, and called for “high level vigilance by the people to thwart the plans of restless people and groups out to destroy the peace’’.
The statement urged local authorities to take appropriate measures to safeguard the people and also report suspicious movements to the relevant authorities.
Also reacting in separate interviews with NAN, Mr Solomon Maren, Commissioner for Urban Development, and Mr Titus Alams, Member representing Bokkos in the State House of Assembly, condemned the attack on the village they described as “traditionally very peaceful’’.
The duo, who are from Bokkos, and who led journalists to the scene of the attack, described the incident as “an act of terrorism that must be condemned by all’’.
“There was no just cause for the attack because government has done everything to ensure a peaceful Plateau for all,’’ Alams said.
He called for restraint from those affected, and advised against further bloodshed in the name of reprisal attacks.
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