Apparently making a caricature of the Federal Government claim that violent crimes by herdsmen has subsided, the Plateau State Police Command yesterday confirmed that gunmen suspected to be herdsmen killed 12 persons and injured one at Kulben Village of Kombun District of Mangu Local Government Area of the state.
DSP Terna Tyopev, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, made this disclosure to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos, the state capital. He said the incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday. His words, “In the early hours of today (Thursday), we received a distress call that gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen attacked Kulben community of Kombun District of Mangu.
“As a result, 12 persons lost their lives and one severely injured,” he said. Typopev said the injured are receiving treatment at Mangu General Hospital at present. He however called on residents of the community to remain calm and be law-abiding but promised that the police and other security agencies would do everything possible to bring the perpetrators to book.”
According to him, “No arrests have been made, but we are doing everything possible to ensure that the criminals are arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law,” he said. He called on the public to provide the police with useful information that would enable them to track down the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Governor of the State, Mr. Simon Lalong, who visited the venue of the attacks has condemned the killings, describing the incident as an attempt by evildoers to puncture the existing peace in the state. He said: “We are saddened by this attack, which is the work of criminals, and has the tendency to interrupt our new year if we allow it. That is why I abandoned everything to personally come here and share your pains and to assure you that we will not allow the enemies of Plateau State to take us back to the era of violence, which we have already put behind us.”
The governor reiterated the fact that his administration will not sit down and watch any group or individuals to cause chaos in the state and return it to the dark days of insecurity. Again he stated, “We have toiled to ensure that peace returns to Plateau State and we will not allow anyone to make nonsense of our efforts. We are determined to deal decisively and firmly with anybody found culpable in attacking or inciting people to carry out attacks against one another.”
