At least 17 persons have been killed in a fresh attack by gunmen on Heipang Community in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Daily Trust reports that the attack occurred around 1am, when most residents of the community were asleep.
The attack is coming three days after a commuter, who was returning from Kara, a cattle market in Bukuru was killed in the Heipang area.
The Berom Youth Moulders association (BYM) had on Tuesday condemned the killing of the commuter, explaining that the attack was purely an act of criminality by enemies of peace.
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The spokesperson of the Operation Safe Haven, a multi-security taskforce maintaining peace in the state, Captain Ola James, who confirmed the latest incident said troops of the operation had been deployed to the community.
He said, “There was an early warning signal that some bandits could launch attacks in the area which prompted the operation to mount checkpoints in the area but the bandits followed another route, and attacked the community. 17 were confirmed killed. The commander of OPSH was in the attacked community.
“We suspect that it was a reprisal following the incident that happened on Monday. We have deployed our men to restore law and other to the area,” the spokesperson said.
Mr John Mark Pam, the state youth leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the northern zone, who also confirmed the incident said he lost his brother.
