‘Soldiers in my house could not protect my family’ --Jos Resident

Moses Guduma who lost nine of his relatives in the recent attack on some villages in Riyom local government area of Plateau state has said that men of the Special Task Force living in his house could not protect them in the most critical moments they needed them most.

Guduma was said to have lost his wife, four children, his mother, father and grandmother in the killings.

Gunmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen had on Wednesday attacked four villages – Gon, Gwa-rim, Torok and Angwan Wereng – in Riyom local government area, leaving in their trail tales of weeping and bloodshed. At the end of the pre-dawn attack, 16 people were killed.



Guduma said that prior to the attack, the soldiers had advised them to stay indoors to avoid being killed, adding that the soldiers retreated and left them to their fate when the assailants invaded their homes.

Executive Director of Stefanos Foundation, a Jos-based non-governmental organisation, quoted Guduma as saying that the soldiers also stopped them from going to bury the dead.

Spokesman for the STF, Capt. Salisu Mustapha, did not respond to several calls put through to his telephone.

Meanwhile the Plateau State government has said that it will deal decisively with all those fomenting trouble in the state.

The government said it would not fold its arms and allow a group of bandits to hold the state to ransom through wanton killings of innocent lives and burning of their houses and farms.

In a statement in Jos on Sunday signed by the Commissioner for information and Communications, Mrs. Olivia Dazem, the government decried the recent killings in Riyom and Barakin Ladi and sympathised with the victims.

Dazem directed the State Emergency Management Agency to ensure that relief materials were distributed to the relatives of the deceased and other displaced persons.

The government urged communities to be extra vigilant and protect themselves from future attacks, while assuring them that the government will cooperate with security agencies to secure their lives and properties.

Nigerin Eye