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 our reporter.
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.
