A classic paradox played out in Nasarawa State on Saturday as gunmen ambushed and killed over 39 persons returning from a peace summit convened by the traditional ruler of Arikya chiefdom, HRH Alhaji Usman Babba, to find enduring solution to the incessant cases of violent attacks on communities in the area.
The assailants, who reportedly numbered above 50, struck around 3pm at Soni Arikya where they barricaded the Nasarawa Eggon/Arikya road, killing most of the people who attended the peace summit as they made their way back to Nasarawa Eggon.
An account given by a survivor of the attack has it that farmers comprising women and children who were unfortunate as they were caught up in the attack. They were reportedly returning home from their farms at the time of the ambush.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the member representing Nasarawa-Eggon East constituency in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Hon Mohammed Muluku Aga who was at the scene of the massacre, said scores of members of his constituency were among those killed by the gunmen.
He noted that he counted up to 27 corpses including women and children at the time he visited the spot.
He lamented thus, “This unfortunate incident has claimed the lives of my constituents because it happened at the border between Nasarawa-Eggon and Lafia East Development Area,
“I counted 27 dead bodies while three of those attacked survived; among them was a woman with a baby she was breast-feeding,” he said.
The unfortunate incident is coming on the heels of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura visit to Arikya and other adjoining villages barely three days ago for an on-the-spot assessment of the damages wrecked on communities in the area, which are now completely deserted after four repeated attacks by unknown assailants.
Briefing Governor Al-Makura on the nature of the attack when he undertook tour of the affected areas, the commandant of 177 Guards Brigade, Keffi, Lt. Col. Musa Ibrahim, , said the gunmen who have operated for over three months, sacking over 20 villages, are acting on specific instructions and always launch their attacks from Obi local government area axis.
He then explained that his men found it difficult to wipe out the criminals because they always received prior information of incoming soldiers to any crisis scene.
Meanwhile, the police public relations officer (PPRO), ASP Ismaila Numan, while confirming the Soni Arikya massacre, disclosed that no arrest has so far been made but assured that the police was resolute in bringing the perpetrators to book.
Numan rued the inaccessible nature of the settlements, which according to him, was one of the things inhibiting prompt response from the police.
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