Days after residents of Jos rejoiced over peaceful Christmas and New Year celebrations which they saw as signaling a gradual return of peace to Plateau State, gunmen attacked a village throwing the state into mourning.
By Taye Obateru and Marie-Therese Nanlong

When shortly before Christmas the acting village head of Shonong in Bachit District of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State was attacked and killed by unknown assailants alongside two other persons,  the residents mourned and grieved but resolved to forge ahead with life.. Unknown to them, however, the worst was yet to come as the attackers were not done.

The killing of the acting chief turned out to be a dress rehearsal as the assailants returned on Monday to launch a full scale attack, this time, in broad daylight leaving at least 33 people dead. Determined to do maximum damage, the attackers, alleged to be Fulani, set 10 of the corpses on fire, razed about 40 houses, killed or made away domestic animals and torched food barns to deplete the food reserve of the community.

Deviating from the norm of launching night attacks and in a clear demonstration of how daring they had become, the attackers said to have been armed with sophisticated weapons, stormed the village around 9.30am and operated for about three hours even when aware of the presence of members of the Special Task Force (STF) stationed around the area. Sunday Vanguard learnt that launching the attack at that time when most able bodied members of the village had either gone to their farms or other endeavours, leaving only women, children and the aged who could provide little or no resistance at their mercy, was strategic.

Attacks of this nature are not alien to the people of Bachit District as many of its sons and daughters  have been lost in the numerous “unprovoked” attacks targeted at the district and others in Berom land. It was in this same environment that a serving senator, Dr. Gyang Dantong, and  Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Gyang Fulani,  lost their lives during  a mass burial in 2012.

As in previous attacks, Fulani herdsmen are being blamed for Monday’s attack while the response of members of the  STF  keeping peace in the state has  been a subject of varying analysis. Some of the villagers wondered why the attackers had such a field day, operating for about three hours before they were repelled.

However, the community leader of Shonong, Da Iliya Nyam Vomagai,  provided some insight saying the attackers surrounded the village with sophisticated weapons shooting sporadically without any serious challenge because the STF men around could not match their  superior fire power.  Speaking on Tuesday during the mass burial of the victims in the village, he said the STF on ground did  their best to protect them, but they were overwhelmed  by the sophisticated weapons of the attackers whom he said were Fulani herdsmen.

“We called the STF  Commander for reinforcement,  but it took close to four or five hours before more men of the STF came and it was late because the attackers had killed our people, destroyed houses and burnt food stuffs into ashes. On Monday we did a mass burial and today Tuesday we are doing it again and all those that lost their lives are 33,” he said. “We  thank God that we are alive today because the plan of the attackers was to wipe out the entire village. Just  before the Christmas, they killed our village head; we buried him a few days ago; now these  fresh killings .

”Another villager, Pastor Gwong Dachollom of COCIN Church,  Shonong, added another dimension to the saga when he said the attackers  wore military. Uniform.: “Some of the attackers who came here on Monday wore  army uniform and we don’t know where they came from; I was inside this village from the beginning to the end of the attack. In fact the way the military defended us on Monday was not actually the right way, because instead of them facing the Fulani they were facing us with bullets flying all over our heads.

“I saw them (the attackers) with my own eyes because I hid close to the church here. I want the government to do something very fast because we are not safe in this village;  you can see that only a few of us are here now; the women and children have vacated the village to some area of safety”.

Speaking after the mass burial of some of the victims, member representing Riyom Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Daniel Dem, who is also the Majority Leader, said the situation where the entire village was surrounded, people and animals killed, some even burnt, houses and foodstuffs destroyed and all without adequate security on ground to save the situation is sad.

The lawmaker said,”I thought that 2014 was going to be a year my constituents will experience peace but the reverse is the case. I think something is seriously wrong  on the part of the security of the state, but we really appreciate the security here on ground for  doing their best to protect human lives. He, however,  regretted the delay is sending reinforcement  to  those on ground as they were overpowered by the attackers who came in a large number.

“In fact, for the attackers to surround the entire village and we have STF here in Jos is a thing of serious concern for the state and country at large. Why will a large number of STF members be stationed at various check points in the town while villages are being attacked everyday? This is a question  our  security chiefs need to answer. The STF needs to bring reinforcement to the villages”.

He promised to present the issue on the floor of the House for immediate action to protect  the lives of the citizens of the state. However, the STF has dismissed accusations of poor or slow response to the attack on the village insisting that the situation would have been worse but for the intervention of its members. Its Media Officer, Captain Mustapha Salisu,  in a statement, said contrary to insinuations, the STF responded swiftly to the distress call.

“The STF wishes to use this medium to refute such reports by informing the general public particularly the good people of Plateau State that on the said date at about 9:30am, troops received a distress call by some members of the community about an attack on two persons who were on their way to the farm by suspected Fulani militia.

STF personnel deployed around the area swiftly moved to the scene of the incident to repel the attack. However, on reaching there, it was discovered that the persons were killed and at the same time the entire village was under attack by dozens of armed men. The assailants immediately went on burning huts, farm produce and attacking innocent people.  Troops quickly called for reinforcement, repelled the attackers and secured the area”, the statement said.

Reacting,  the state  Commissioner  for  Information and Communication, Yiljap Abraham, described  the killings  as barbaric promising that steps would be taken to check further attacks. “It is becoming increasingly apparent that the attackers’ tactic is to displace communities and ultimately occupy their homes by striking them with terror and unwarranted fury. However, these will not succeed due to security measures being taken and increased community vigilance.

“The Plateau State Government is working with the various security structures on ground and is adopting extra measures to defeat this emerging insurgency that aims at decimating and displacing communities to occupy their land. Government appeals to Plateau people to maintain greater alertness and work with security agencies to keep Plateau safe at all times”. While many welcomed the assurance  from the state government and  security forces, they said they were looking  forward to when such promise  would translate to peace and security.