A fresh attack by gunmen in Kwahaslalek village, a community in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State has claimed the lives of 30 people.
The attack occurred when villagers were gathered at a compound of a community leader to observed the curfew imposed by the government, following the unrest erupted on Tuesday afternoon in Sabon-Gari and Mangu town.
Everyone in the compound was killed and the properties in the village were all destroyed.
A community leader, named Mark Haruna, said the unrest that happed ealier in the day was a diversionary tactics of the assailants in other to attack the village at night. The state Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, imposed a 24-hour curfew on Mangu LGA due to the unrest that happened in Sabon Gari and Mangu town on Tuesday.
“What happened at Sabon Gari and Mangu town yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) was just a distraction so that the attention of the people will be shifted away from the villages.
“For the second time, my village Kwahaslalek (behind NYSC camp) came under attack by gunmen yesterday (Tuesday)night. They came at about 12:30 am and killed over 25 people, mostly women and children,” Haruna said.
For his part, the Chairman of the Mwaghavul Development Association, Joseph Gwankat, described the killing as callous.
“I couldn’t sleep last night as a result of what happened in Mangu town during the day yesterday. Now, I have just been told Kwahaslalek village was attacked last night and about 30 people were killed.
“From what I was told, the unrest in Mangu town yesterday created fears in many communities. Some people in the village went and evacuated their loved ones and assembled them in a place where they thought was safe.
“So in the night, the killers went to Kwahaslalek village where the people mostly women and children were assembled and killed all of them,” he said
This attack is coming close to a month, eve to Christmas, after suspected assailants attacked over 28 communities in Mangu, Bokkos and Barkin Ladi Local Government Councils, killing over 185 innocent people, razed down 221 houses and displaceing 10,000 persons.
