In a horrific act of brutality, suspected bandits have killed over 40 innocent civilians in an attack on Zurak village in the Bashar district of Wase Local Government Area in Plateau State. According to reports, the armed militants invaded the community around 7 PM on Monday when residents were settling in for the evening after a day’s work.
Trigger Warning: This post contains details of graphic violence.
What transpired next was sheer carnage. The bandits went on a shooting and arson rampage, gunning down villagers and burning down houses. Witness accounts paint a grim picture – people fleeing in terror as the bandits rode in on motorcycles, spraying bullets indiscriminately. At least 46 bodies have been recovered so far, with the death toll likely to rise further.
The victims were not just from Zurak, but included farmers who had come from neighboring Kanan LGA to cultivate lands. This senseless massacre has cut short so many innocent lives and brought unspeakable grief to families across multiple communities. No one should have to go through such trauma and loss at the hands of these depraved criminals.
While the motives behind the attack remain unclear at this point, it seems to have been precipitated by an incident on Sunday where local vigilantes apparently confronted the bandits at their camp, sensing imminent danger. The bandits then returned with brutal vengeance the very next evening.
This cycle of violence is sadly not new to the Plateau state region which has grappled with insecurity from armed groups for years now. However, the sheer scale and savagery of this latest attack is particularly harrowing and deserving of the strongest condemnation.
The Plateau State Police Command has stated that it is pursuing the perpetrators and has stepped up deployments to the area. One of the gunmen was reportedly arrested while seeking treatment for gunshot wounds at a local hospital. While this is a small glimmer of progress, much more needs to be done to enhance security and prevent such tragedies from recurring.
Plateaus state communities living under the constant threat of violence from bandits and militants desperately need better protection and security strategies from authorities. Reactive measures alone after such horrendous incidents are not enough – there must be more proactive steps to pre-empt these armed groups and deny them the ability to wreak such devastation.
No family should have to live in fear of losing their loved ones to random acts of mass violence like this Zurak massacre. The government owes it to innocent citizens to urgently institute robust security measures and accountability to ensure such incidents never happen again in Plateau or any other part of Nigeria. Allowing this bloodshed to continue unchecked would be an unforgivable dereliction of duty.
Reference
How gunmen kill 40, burnt houses in Plateau community published in Vanguard.