No fewer than eight people were confirmed dead on Monday after gunmen attacked Adu village in the Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Davidson Malison, National Publicity Secretary of the Irigwe Development Association, confirmed the killings in a statement on Monday, adding that five other people were also injured during the incident, which occurred on Sunday, Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Day commemoration.
According to Malison, the gunmen came into the village at 8.10 p.m. and opened fire on the sleeping victims.
Malison said, “While other people celebrated 63rd Nigeria’s Independence Day with excitement, joy, and happiness, Rigwe people were enveloped with tears, sorrow, and sadness following an attack by gunmen at Adu village of Kwall District, Rigwe Chiefdom of Plateau State in Nigeria.
“This is no doubt the continuation of the destruction of lives and the ceaseless attempts to annihilate the Rigwe race by the men of the underworld, which have kept on persisting.
“This thing must stop, and it is enough. We can’t continue allowing these marauders to continue unleashing mayhem on the land. Our ancestral land is God-given, and her people cannot be evicted or ejected.”
Also, the spokesman for the Miango Youths Development Association, Nuhu Bitrus, said in an interview with newsmen, “It’s unfortunate that while others are celebrating Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary, we are gathering in Kwall to bury our people.
“As a community, we had planned to do our independence celebration today (Monday) with a lot of activities, but we are not doing that anymore. Instead, our people are at the moment gathering and making arrangements to bury the victims of the attack and also turn the event into a prayer day for the safety of our communities.”
As of the time of filing this report, the spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, Alabo Alfred, could not be reached for comment on the attack by the gunmen.
