▪︎125 buried — MDA; We recovered 117 bodies — Police
The Plateau State Police Command and a socio-cultural organisation in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, Mwaghavul Development Association, have different figures of the killings in two communities in the state.
The Police Command and the MDA gave the figures on Friday amid further recoveries of bodies from the killings.
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While the MDA said no fewer than 125 dead bodies have been recovered and given mass burial in the past three days, the Plateau State Police Command declared that a total of 117 bodies were recovered.
Addressing newsmen in Jos, Plateau State, the National President of 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.
Gwankat said: “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 gunmen.
“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.
“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 gunmen should be discarded because there is no way an attack will take place for one week and the security men will tell us that they are unknown.”
Gwankat called on the government to take immediate steps to facilitate the return of all persons displaced and now in different camps by reconstructing their homes and providing security for them as well.
He said 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 West African Examinations Council examinations were disrupted as result of the attacks.
But the Plateau State Police Command said it has recovered 117 bodies and arrested seven suspects.
The Command in a statement by its spokesman, Alfred Alabo, said five more suspects had been arrested in addition to the two earlier nabbed.
Alabo, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said: “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.
“After calm was restored to the communities, more bodies were recovered which is part of the thirty earlier reported. The figures are as follows: (1) Kubat Village 27, (2) Kantoma Village 31, (3) Alagon 6, (4) Kubwas 8, (5) Dumnang 9, (6). Shangal 1, (7) Gwet 3 and (8) Washna 2.
“Also, Manret hospital had about Fifteen (15) injured persons, Infinity hospital had over Eight (8), Allah Nakowa Hospital had over Sixteen (16) while at Mangu Cottage Hospital there are an unspecified number of persons receiving treatment there also.” (Eagle Online except headline)
