Shonong Attack: 23 People Locked Up In A Building, Set Ablaze
A community leader of Shonong in Bacit district of Riyom local government of Plateau State, Da Yohana Ciroma Dangyang has disclosed that 23 persons were locked up in a building and set ablaze by the Fulani militias who attacked the community recently. He told LEADERSHIP at the scene of the attack that all the 23 people were burnt beyond recognition.
The community leader alleged that the Special Task Force (STF) stationed in the area did not help matters as they sat with other security personnel under a mango tree while the Fulani militias were unleashing terror on his people.
Dangyang added that the aim of the attackers was to drive them away and take over their land because of its fertility.
According to him, the soldiers were discussing with the Fulani attackers who told them that they were not after the soldiers but the Beroms, which made the soldiers to retreat, leaving the militias to have a field day.
Another indigene of the community, Engineer Jambol who spoke with our correspondent lamented that the Fulanis had lived with them for many years only to suddenly turn against them, adding: “the battle is not our own, but the Lord’s.”
LEADERSHIP observed that expended bullets littered the whole area, while a group of protesting youths carried placards with inscriptions ‘Why were our women and children killed?’; ‘Where were the STF within Shonong community?’; ‘If God be for Shonong, who can be against us?’; ‘Shonong is our heritage; nobody can take it away from us’ among others.
Meanwhile, the interim administrator of Riyom local government of Plateau State, Sandah Ishaya Matawal, has donated relief materials worth over N5million to displaced victims of the Shonong attack.
Over 200 displaced people mostly women and children have taken refuge at the COCIN Church, Shonong following the burning down of their houses by the suspected Fulani militias.
Presenting the relief materials to the displaced people who sought shelter at COCIN Church, Shonong, the interim administrator appealed to the people to remain calm as the state government is taking stock of burnt houses with a view to providing building materials for reconstruction.
According to him, their mission to the place was to present relief materials to the people whose houses and harvested foodstuffs were burnt to ashes in the area.
He urged the people to remain steadfast and not to abandon their houses as the main purpose of the attackers is to take over their land.
Matawal urged STF commander to as a matter of urgency deploy more security personnel to Shonong, adding that the few on ground are grossly inadequate to curtail the activities of Fulani militias.
The interim administrator added that there should be synergy among the various security operatives in the area to nip the incessant Fulani attacks in the bud.
The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has also presented relief materials worth N2million to the displaced people, according to Binta Wuyep, SEMA’s director, relief and rehabilitation.
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