MORE than 6,000 persons displaced due to attacks carried out by suspected terrorists in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State are currently taking refuge in markets and primary schools, The PUNCH learnt on Tuesday.
Findings have shown that the internally displaced persons were mostly women, and children, who had been rendered homeless as a result of the terrorist attacks on the communities.
The PUNCH had reported that suspected terrorists invaded about seven communities in Kanam LGA on Sunday and shot at anyone they saw, which led to the killing of over 70 persons.
Several persons were also abducted by the terrorists, who also set their houses ablaze.
Some of the affected communities included Kukawa, Gyambawu, Dungur, Kyaram, Yelwa, Dadda, Wanka, Shuwaka, Gwammadaji, and Dadin Kowa, among others.
Alhaji Nuhu, a road transport worker from Gyambawu whose brother and son were shot, told our correspondent on Tuesday that apart from those taking refuge at the market and primary school in Dengi, others were rushed to the hospital as a result of the injury which they sustained during the attacks.
Nuhu, who fled to Dengi after the attacks, said, “We have many people who have been displaced. There are more than 6,000 villagers. Suppose you come to the central school in Dengi and the central market, you will pity the people there because some of them who ran away from the terrorists in their various attacked communities are staying there now.
“My brother, Babangida, and his son, Aliyu, were shot during the attack on the communities by the terrorists. My brother and his son were at home in Gyambawu when the terrorists arrived and started shooting. The terrorists shot my brother in his hand as they tried to escape while the bullet hit my son in his two legs. They are presently receiving treatment at a hospital in Dengi. There is another local vigilante in Kyaram village, whose mouth was also shattered by the bullet of the terrorists when he was attacked. The three of them and many others are currently in different hospitals receiving treatment”.
The transport worker called for serious, prompt, and proactive measures to stop the terrorists from expanding their attacks on other communities in Plateau.
He also urged the government and other public-spirited individuals to come to aid the displaced persons and those injured, saying, “These people are suffering. They need help.”
Meanwhile, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday in Abuja described the killings in Kanam and Wase communities in Plateau State, as heinous, saying that the perpetrators should not be allowed to escape justice.
“They should not be spared or forgiven,” he said.
According to a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President ordered law enforcement agencies to work strenuously with the government of the state, to bring the situation under control and take steps to bring the culprits to justice quickly.
The statement was titled ‘President Buhari describes Plateau killings as heinous, says perpetrators should get no mercy,’
Buhari expressed condolences over the terrorist incident, insisting that peace must return at all costs to the state and the entire country, as a matter of priority.
“I urge all our citizens, the people of Plateau State in particular to expose the perpetrators of such incidents, their sponsors and those who encourage such criminals who carry out these dastardly acts of murder, so that the law will take its course. They must not be forgiven,” the President said.
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