Plateau killings: Soldiers, police comb Riyom hills for perpetrators

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FOLLOWING Monday attack in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, which led to the death of over 30 people, men of the Special Task Force in charge of the security in the state and the police have started combing Riyom hills to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
Gunmen suspected to Fulani herdsmen, in their large number on Monday, invaded five villages in the local government area and killed 30 people, mostly women and children, while scores of villagers were wounded during the invasion which lasted for three hours.
The Media and Information Officer of the STF, Captain Salisu Mustapha, told the Nigerian Tribune that more soldiers had been deployed to the affected area and currently combing the hills with the aim of arresting the perpetrators, adding that no one had been arrested but the command was in possession of names of some suspects whom the STF was after.
Captain Mustapha, who said normalcy had been restored to the affected villages, implored the general public  to always allow security agencies to take control of security situations when such incidents occurred, and warned people not to take laws into their own hands, as any act of lawlessness would not be tolerated by the security agencies.
Addressing newsmen, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Olakpe, said the police had spread its dragnet to arrest the culprits who carried out the unprovoked attack on the villages, adding that both the STF and the police arrived the scenes of the incident promptly.
According to him, the prompt intervention of the security agencies prevented the situation from degenerating and and charged traditional rulers to be more vigilant and report any suspicious move in their localities to the security agencies for prompt action.
Meanwhile, a group,  Berom Youth Movement, has called on the Federal Government to initiate a special intervention action to  stop renewed  bloodshed in some parts of Plateau State in the interest of the country at large.
The group, in a statement  signed by its National Chairman, Mr Rwang Dalyop Dantong, said the attack was unfortunate, more so that  two of their kinsmen, including the acting village head of Shonong, Mathias Andrew, were recently killed by gunmen.
The statement  expressed shock at the wave of renewed attacks on Beromland, allegedly by Fulanis, “despite the presence of the Special Task Force (STF) deployed to restore law and order in the state.
The BYM said  that as a host community, the Berom natives had always interacted with the  Fulani herdsmen and allowed them to graze their cattle in their  farmland without any compensation nor royalty, “yet they have turned the land into a battlefield, killing and maiming innocent lives.”
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