The Plateau government has urged calm following the July 15 invasion by gunmen of the Bidi Jebu community at Tahoss village in Riyom council area of the state that led to the loss of lives and property.

Condemning the dastardly act in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joyce Ramnap, the government sympathised with the affected families of the victims and all those affected by the tragic incident.

According to her, Governor Caleb Mutfwang has directed security agencies to intensify surveillance and bring the perpetrators to justice.
THIS is even as the death toll from the Monday night attack has risen to 32.

The bandits, suspected to be members of the Fulani militia, stormed the community on that day around 11:00 p.m., launching a house-to-house rampage.

Survivors described the scene as a calculated slaughter with entire families caught off guard in their homes, where women, children and the elderly were among those massacred.

On Tuesday evening, community youth leaders, Dauda Dung, confirmed that seven more bodies had been recovered from the surrounding forest, while five of the injured succumbed to their wounds at local hospitals, raising the total from the initial 20 tally to 32.

“Some victims still remain in critical condition. So, unfortunately, the toll would still rise. We are pleading with the government and security agencies to act before more lives are lost.

“This is not the first time we have been attacked, and if nothing changes, it will not be the last,” Dung said.
DISTURBED by the rising insecurity, governments of Benue, Nasarawa, and Plateau have pledged to work together through their emergency management agencies to tame the menace.

The commitment was made during a joint press conference in Makurdi. Director-General of Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency, Ben Akwash, said he and his Plateau counterpart, Sunday Abdul, were in Benue to commiserate with the people over the Yelewata onslaught, which claimed over 200 lives.

“Besides Nasarawa being an immediate neighbour to Benue, both states were under Plateau. “We are in the state not only to commiserate with the government and the people, but to rub minds on how best to forestall future attacks,” Akwash said.

Also speaking, Abdul condemned the killings, describing them as a shared tragedy affecting the entire North Central. Abdul encouraged Benue people to remain hopeful.

In his welcome remarks, the Executive Secretary of Benue Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), Dr. James Iorpuu, lamented the state’s prolonged suffering since 2011.