[SAHARAREPORTERS] No fewer than 125 dead bodies were recovered and given mass burial in the past three days, Mwaghavul Development Association (MDA), a socio-cultural organization in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, has said. The organization consequently raised the alarm over the spate of killings in the state by button men suspected to be herdsmen.
This is as the Plateau State Police Command declared that a total of 117 bodies had been recovered.
Addressing newsmen in Jos, Plateau State, the National President of the Mwaghavul Development Association, Sir, Joseph Gwankat, said apart from the two communities- Fungzai and Kubwat that were initially attacked in the early hours of Tuesday, many other communities and villages also suffered the same fate with many inhabitants killed.
According to the Nation, he said those displaced as a result of the attack were going through a harrowing period as they were lacking food and other amenities. He noted that more than 20,000 people were displaced and are currently taking refuge at the local government secretariat, churches and traditional rulers’ palaces.
"It may interest you to know that since the attack on our communities started on Tuesday, the government has not visited those places attacked by button men. Those they have seen were people displaced and roaming around for succour. The local government and the Mwaghavul Development Association cannot handle the situation alone.
"By our estimation, more than 20,000 people have been displaced, though we have yet to take inventory but within three days we had buried 125 people and we are still counting. There are more corpses still floating in ponds that we cannot even access, many are dumped in wells."
Continuing, he said: "The attack was unprovoked like the one that happened in the early hours of Tuesday. I also want to correct the erroneous impression that it was a clash. It was not a clash but an attack on innocent people. The word unknown button men should be discarded because there is no way an attack will take place for one week and the coppers will tell us that they are unknown," he said.
He, therefore, called on the government to take immediate steps to facilitate the return of all persons displaced and now in different IDPs’ camps by reconstructing their homes and providing security for them as well.
Gwankat noted that the government should take full responsibility of educating the children below the age of 10 who have lost both their parents as a result of the attack while arrangements should be made for those in SS3 whose WAEC examinations were disrupted as result of the attacks.
Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues...
the Plateau State Police Command says it had recovered a total of 117 bodies and arrested seven suspects.
The Command in a statement signed by its front man, DSP Alfred Alabo, informed that in addition to the five suspects earlier announced, "Two more suspects had been arrested and exhibits recovered from them include two cutlasses, one dagger and some amount of money suspected to have been stolen from the houses they looted, as they were all arrested in the act of committing the crime by officers from one of our tactical team led by Supol Bamidele know Eagle Eye unit .
"The suspects are presently in our custody and will be charged to court for prosecution after our investigations are concluded.