It was a weekend of horror for residents of four communities of Adamawa, Plateau and Bayelsa states as gunmen struck on Friday night and yesterday killing 27 persons, including 15 policemen.
In the Adamawa State massacre, the bandits killed two policemen attached to the country home of the Deputy Governor Bala James Ngilari and burnt his house in an early morning raid on Midlu Village in Madagali Local Government Area.
They also killed 11 other residents of the area.
During a a midnight attack, armed men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen invaded Karkashi community in Langtang South Local Government Area of Plateau State and killed seven people and injured scores of others with gunshots.
Another set of gunmen also attacked Zango in Wase Local Government Area and burnt over 10 houses before they were repelled by the villagers, who also killed four of the attackers.
The situation was pathetic in Azuzama community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State where 13 police officers were shot dead by unknown gunmen.
Three other policemen including a sergeant however escaped from the attackers by diving into a river. The incident occurred on Friday between 6 pm and 7pm a few metres away from the Azuzama town.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY learnt that Ngilari, who normally spends his weekends in his country home, was not at home when the gunmen struck.
An eyewitness claimed that the two policemen attached to the house were gruesomely murdered by the attackers who also set the house ablaze during the operation that lasted for a few hours.
Madagali local government is also the home of Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly. Ahmadu Umar Fintiri.
A resident of the Mildu who sought anonymity told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that the gunmen stormed the area at 2am yesterday shooting at the villagers and burning their houses including the personal residence of Ngilari.
“The gunmen attacked Ngilari’s house and killed some occupants including two policemen guarding the house,” he said.
According to him, he counted 13 bodies on the streets, adding that information on the victims at the deputy governor’s house were still sketchy.
The Director of Press to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Mawell Dukku, said he was aware of the incident but disclosed that his boss was in Abuja attending a meeting when the gunmen attacked the house.
Dukku said he could not speak on the casualty level and the extent of damage done to the house because he was yet to visit the area.
The state police command Public Relations Officer, DSP Mohammed Ibrahim, confirmed the incident, but said 11 people were killed by the bandits.
Two people were also killed at Bishop Street in Jimeta by gunmen yesterday. Residents said after killing their targets, the hoodlums shot sporadically into the air to scare residents and escape from the scene.
The spokesman of the Special Task Force (STF) in Plateau State, Captain Salisu Mustapher, confirmed the killings in Karkashi and Zango to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY in Jos yesterday.
According to him, at 2.am some gunmen stormed Karkashi and killed seven people and wounded several others.
He added that four of the attackers were arrested and were being interrogated to know the level of their involvement in the attacks, adding that they would be handed over to the police for prosecution.
The policemen killed in Bayelsa, according to security sources, were on escort duty from the Government House and the state police headquarters for the burial of the mother of a former militant leader, Kile Selky Torughedi, popularly known as the “Young Shall Grow.”
Torughedi, who was 24 hours before the attack was appointed the senior special adviser on marine waterways security by Governor Seriake Dickson, was in the convoy of boats during the incident.
The death of the policemen has however thrown the leadership of the state command led by Mr.Kingsley Omire into confusion following allegations that they were fraudulent sent on the journey.
While many residents expressed the fear that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) might have been responsible for the attack, others said that some aggrieved followers of the ex-militant leader might be responsible for the killings.
Sources in the community claimed that the killing of the policemen was a fall-out of a leadership crisis between some aggrieved ex-militants and “Commander Young Shall Grow.”
They said that his followers had warned him against attending his mother’s burial ceremony, but he ignored the treat.
Some senior police officers disclosed that the commissioner had gone to the scene of the incident.
It was also learnt that the state command “B Operations Department” had dispatched a team of policemen to the scene of the attack to possibly recover the remains of the slain officers.
Late last night, Omire confirmed the armed attack on the policemen by armed men including some ex-militants at the Azuzama community.
The commissioner said the bodies of the policemen yet to be found and therefore cannot declare them dead until the outcome of the ongoing search and rescue operations in the sea.
Omire admitted that the attack was launched by some aggrieved ex-militants when the policemen were stranded on the waters following an engine problem with the speed boat conveying them to Azuzama community.
He said: “50 policemen set out on the assignment to Azuzama. On their way, one of the boats developed engine fault. A Joint Military Task Force gun boat was moving ahead of them.
They were isolated and became soft target. Intelligence report has shown that those involved in the armed attack were hoodlums within a ex-militant group that were supposed to be enjoying amnesty.”
According to him, of the 50 policemen deployed in the Azuzama, “12 are missing including two inspectors, four non-commissioned officers and six Constables.
The Police has launched high powered investigation headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr.TuesdayAsayamor into the incident.”
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