Two killed in fresh Plateau attack

From Ado Abubakar Musa with agency report

Gunmen in the early hours of Sunday attacked residents of Kantoma Village in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, killing two people.

Sunday’s attack occurs a day after the council chairman told journalists that five people had been killed in ethnic clashes in the local government in the previous four days.

The police spokesperson, Emmanuel Abuh, confirmed Sunday’s attack to journalists, but declined to comment on the casualty figure.

Mr. Abuh said he would make further enquiries to ascertain the casualty and damage caused by the incident.

However, residents said two people were killed in the attack, while many others sustained various degrees of injuries. Ten houses were also said to have been torched in the attack.

A witness, who sought anonimity for security reasons, said the incident disrupted planned Sunday church services as residents feared further attacks on churches in the largely Christian community.

The Chairman of Mangu Local Government Area, Caleb Mutfwang, had on Saturday briefed journalists in Jos on security challenges in the council. He said clashes between herdsmen and natives in the villages in the council caused the death of five people within four days; while several properties were also destroyed.

Villages were the clashes have occured include Maitumbi, Jwak-Maitumbi, Kyampus, Mairana, Sarbot, Mangul and Jerusalem.

Plateau has witnessed several ethno-religious conflicts which have caused the deaths of thousands of people in the past few years. The establishment of a Special Task Force, made up of military and other security agencies, in the state has not stopped the occurence of the violence.