Rampaging gunmen wreaking havoc in Nigeria’s middle belt State of Plateau have struck again.
The gunmen on Sunday evening attacked Dungwel village in the beleaguered Mangu Local Government Area of the state State killing at least four persons.
Mangu has become a hotbet for wanton killings and violent attacks of armed nonstate actors. Over 250 deaths have been recorded in the local government this year alone.
One of the relatives of the victims, Shedrack Gambo, confirmed the incident to newsmen.
According to him, the victims all died in the attack while some sustained degrees of injuries, adding that a dark cloud of despair and grief had enveloped the community following the tragedy.
“They all died in the attack and others were also injured in the incident. The community is presently in shock and grieving. Please, pray for us,” Gambo said.
The spokesman for the Military Taskforce, Captain Oya James, confirmed the incident the attack on Monday.
“I have called the Commander of the FOB and he confirmed the figure and he further explained that when the troops got to the village. It was like the assailants went there for a specific person with the village head as the target.
“According to what the troops were told, the assailants on arrival were asking for the house of the village head. When the people saw what was happening, they started running away,” Punch quoted him as saying.
According to him, the bandits razed the house of the village head with his family members inside before troops who were alerted rescued the victims.
James, added, “The village head also escaped but the assailants set his house ablaze. If not for the intervention of the soldiers, the wives of the village head and his children who were locked inside the house would have died because the house was still on fire when the troops got there and everywhere was filled with smoke.”
He added that the troops had to break into the house and rescue the people