The death toll following an ambush by groups of insurgents in Plateau state, north central Nigeria, has risen to 80, local officials said, with survivors continuing to search for bodies days after the attack.
According to witnesses, the assailants targeted multiple villages in Plateau’s rural Mangu region during the attack, which lasted for two days. Burials have resumed in Mangu, which is 60 kilometers from Jos, the state capital.
Information gathered claims that, seven individuals have been apprehended. It was a “situation of sporadic shooting across a vast area of different villages,” Alabo Alfred, the command spokesman said.
Despite its reputation as Africa’s biggest economy, and one of its largest oil producers, Nigeria’s growth has been impeded by security problems in the country’s north-west and central areas, and northern Nigeria as a whole.
Following decades of violence, present and past pastoralists from the Fulani tribe picked up guns against farmers over restricted access to land and water. The assaults are often retaliatory, and they are generally carried out in isolated places where law enforcement officers are outmanned and outgunned.
According to Philip Pamshak, who has been aiding with the mass graves, families in Plateau’s Mangu district have been unable to recover the remains of the dead in places that remain dangerous. “The place is still bad, so we had to run,” Philip explained.
Plateau Deputy Governor, Sonni Tyoden stated in a press release that, the asailants targeted at least 10 villages, quoting the local leaders he met with, while visiting the affected areas. According to locals, it was carried out by herdsmen after an individual complained that their livestock had ruined his banana plantation.
According to survivors, the attackers arrived in huge numbers and dispersed around the communities, setting fire to buildings and shooting at people.
“There was tension everywhere. They macheted some and killed some with guns,” Yaputat Pokyes, a survivor said. A lot of residents have evacuated the area, he said, while the wounded have been receiving medical treatments in various hospitals.
Witnesses also reported that, security officers arrived late, thus, a day after the attack began, and echoing criticisms that, security forces are sometimes hesitant to react when conflict erupts.
Confidence MacHarry of the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence security claimed that, Nigerian security services are unable to avoid or respond quickly to such attacks, because their early warning system has been ineffective and they lack the necessary weapons and manpower.
“For the early warning system to work, we are supposed to have reports of the pending attack and the response mechanism to prevent the attack from taking place,” MacHarry averred.
On the other hand, police in Anambra state’s southeastern region have apprehended two suspects in another horrific attack. The attack on a US convoy on Tuesday is thought to have been executed by militant separatists in the region.
According to Echeng Echen, the police chief in Anambra, the dead toll has risen from four to seven, including three US Embassy employees and four police personnel. “The state police command and other security agencies are working round-the-clock, in concert with the Government of Anambra State, to find and rescue two missing officials” with the embassy, the police chief disclosed.
Nigeria is considered as one of the worst hit terrorist countries in Africa and the World as a whole. With the presence of Boko-Haram, Nigeria has lost over hundreds of thousands of lives, in connection to terrorist attacks.
