Information has it that armed men suspected to be Fulani militias ambushed and attacked 3 Internally Displaced Persons including a pregnant woman of Darin hamlet in Jol Community, Riyom LGA of Plateau State at about 7:00pm of last evening, 23rd October 2021.
According to one of the victims, Mr. Ibrahim Peter, “my wife, I and Mrs. Mary Ayuba went to harvest Fonio(Accha) around Tashek hamlet, where I hired a farm and planted Fonio (Accha). On our way going to Vwak, the Community Headquarters where we have been hosted after our displacements in 2013, unknown to us that armed Fulani have laid ambush shortly after a bridge along Tashek-Vwak road. They had firearms,but didn’t use on us, rather they use sticks on us,” he said.
Mr. Peter and Mrs. Mary Ayuba, who screamed out for help, narrowly escaped with minor injuries leaving behind Mrs. Felicia Peter, a pregnant woman who couldn’t get herself out of entrapment of the attackers.
Upon the escape of the 2 that raised alarm, personnel of Operation Rainbow and members of Community Police hastily responded to the distress call for rescue of the pregnant woman who suffers injuries as a result of beating meted out on her.
It’s further gathered as to why the victims were relatively late from the harvest-field; “our farmed crops are usually destroyed within weekend, especially on Sundays when people must have been in Church. Thus, we tried to complete the harvest in order to avoid such the recurrence of same, that’s why we took the risk of late return to Vwak” Peter recounted.
He added that it’s not their wish to go and hire farmlands as far as Tashek, but they have no option than to take such steps as all their lands at Darin, Davwak and Hywa have been forcibly taken over and occupied by Fulani herdsmen. This therefore exposes IDPs to many forms of aggression if no drastic measures are taken to nip these in the bud.
By:
Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, Esq.
Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria-ECCVN.
As at the time of filing this report, it’s sourced out that Mrs Felicia is receiving medical attention at Primary Health Centre of Jol Community while the other 2 have been discharged.