It would be recalled that last night of December, 1st, 2020, armed group suspected to be Fulani militias killed 3 persons at Gura-Pwana hamlet of Vwang (Com) District in Jos South LGA, Plateau State.
Those engulfed by the attack are-
1. Joseph Swanta, aged 28, a vigilante member.
2. Mr. Davou Mwanti, aged 59.
3. Mr. Dalyop Davou, aged 70, a family head of 11 children, while Mrs. Adogoke Ololade Olufunke is missing, suggestive of a fact that she has been abducted by the assailants.
In an interview, Mr. Santwa, whose son was among those killed, narrated that, “we were at home with my family at about 8:22pm, and my son, Joseph was sleeping in his room. Suddenly, there were heavy gunfire that alerted the deceased and I. He was reluctant to go out, but I urged him not to remained indoor in such a circumstance thus, we went out in different directions for possible intervention” he said.
Mr. Santwa addef that, “despite being unarmed, we felt going out might help out the situation so that the attackers would withdraw seen people coming out, but on getting close to where the attackers were releasing bullets, just some metres away, I spotted closely to be Fulani herdsmen shooting. Before then, wee found out a Bakery House was making production using power Generator which made a lot of noise. My son rushed there by the fence and asked the workers to switched off the power generating machine, for there was an attack. The machine was immediately off. Unknown to him, the attackers had already spotted his movement. When coming out, they went after him with heavy fire and shot him dead. I narrowly escaped the onslaught as the invaders grouped themselves into 4, strategically positioned so that no one can dare them. That’s how I saw them shooting at me from a very close range, but I manageably escape with bruises not of gunshots but crawling to escape.”
Another respondent, Mrs.
Shetu Davou, aged 62, a wife of one of the deceased persons lamented the demise of her husband who was the breadwinner of the house of 12 including her. She said, “.. he was a watchman killed at his duty post. We had always depend on him for every material need from his earnings, but he is no more today, leaving us to fend for ourselves. I don’t know what to do now” she said. Additionally, she recalled a nostalgia of losing “..one of my children, named Dauda Dalyop killed sometime back by Fulani herdsmen in 2011..” in a similar attack.
One of the residents who pleaded anonymity commended the response of personnel of Police Divisional Headquarters of K-Vom for arriving the village and engaged the attackers in serious exchange of gunfire despite the heavy weapons used by the gunmen. It’s worthy of noting that the Police Force, after repelling the attackers amidst the tense security atmosphere, they were able to evacuate the corpses to Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, from where two of the three corpses were taking for burial while other will be done when date is fixed.
To curb down the continued attacks, killings and abductive routinely perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen as witnessed in the area and other neighboring villages, K-Vom, especially Gura-Pwana hamlet, an appea is hereby made to appropriate bodies concerned to make that hamlet a security flashpoint with not only deployment of Mobile Police personnel permanently stationed, but also arming vigilante and other local security outfits to enable them have arms for possible counter in an eventful recurrence of similar development.
By:
Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, Esq.
Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria-ECCVN
