The PUNCH had reported that the 33 persons were gruesomely murdered in their sleep and their houses razed, such that 19 of the corpses were burnt beyond recognition.
Speaking at the mass burial ceremony, the Local Government Chairman, Mr. Francis Sani Zimbo expressed shock over the incident, saying it was an unprovoked attack on the people.
He said Runji Sankwab was the third community to experience the series of attacks within a space of about 30 days in the Atyap communities.
Zimbo who decried the killings disclosed that while the local government has held several security meetings to unravel reasons behind the repeated attacks and proffer possible solutions aimed at putting a stop to the carnage; however lamented their efforts were
all to no avail.
The council boss remarked, “our hands are tight and there are no options left for us again but to seek for solutions and help from outside our immediate scope through the help of the media.”
The National President, Atyap Community Development Association, Comrade Timbwak Samuel Achie, called on the entire Atyap community to unite and defend themselves whenever faced with such genocidal threats.
He also appealed for assistance from well-spirited Nigerians and international bodies to assist the affected persons because their houses, totalling about 40 were burnt to ashes and valuables, including food items destroyed.
Performing the mass burial rites, the Local Government Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Bishop Jacob Kwashi urged the government to live up to its responsibility of protecting lives and properties.
Bishop Kwashi therefore prayed for the repose of the lives of those that died and prayed for quick recovery of those who sustained various degrees of injuries and those in critical conditions.
Reacting on the sad incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer DSP Mohammed Jalige said his officers and personnel of other security operatives have since been deployed to the area to ensure such carnage does not recur
