Three feared killed as rival communities clash in Jos
The police denies number of casualties There was a fatal clash between residents of DadinKowa and Gyel area of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State on Monday. The clash came on the heels of the alleged killing of nine persons in a similar styled mayhem in Gyero village. According to witnesses, the Monday clash resulted to the death of 3 persons. The Plateau state Police Commissioner, Chris Olakpe, confirmed the incident and said it was a sad development. He, however, denied the number of casualties, saying “only one person was killed.” Mr. Olakpe said, “Yes there was tension around the locality this afternoon but our men swing into action and were able to restore back normalcy to the communities. But peace has been restored back to the area.” A witness of the incident, Musa Ibrahim, in a telephone interview, said “some youth who had gone hunting last night were killed by unknown persons in Gyero Village and three of their corpse were later discovered.” This led to a protest. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that it took the efforts of security personnel who shot into the air to disperse the protesters. The clash and the casualties recorded has affected preparations for the local government elections as some ad-hoc staff deployed for the elections were not able to get to Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, PLASIEC, to collect election materials. All routes leading to the secretariat of the commission were closed. Also, businesses in both communities were affected, as a PREMIUM TIMES correspondent gathered that most shop owners within the affected areas closed their business for fear of hoodlums taking advantage of the situation to loot shops. The situation has led to intensified security checks within Jos as heavy presence of security operatives can be seen on most streets of Jos.
The police denies number of casualties There was a fatal clash between residents of DadinKowa and Gyel area of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State on Monday. The clash came on the heels of the alleged killing of nine persons in a similar styled mayhem in Gyero village. According to witnesses, the Monday clash resulted to the death of 3 persons. The Plateau state Police Commissioner, Chris Olakpe, confirmed the incident and said it was a sad development. He, however, denied the number of casualties, saying “only one person was killed.” Mr. Olakpe said, “Yes there was tension around the locality this afternoon but our men swing into action and were able to restore back normalcy to the communities. But peace has been restored back to the area.” A witness of the incident, Musa Ibrahim, in a telephone interview, said “some youth who had gone hunting last night were killed by unknown persons in Gyero Village and three of their corpse were later discovered.” This led to a protest. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that it took the efforts of security personnel who shot into the air to disperse the protesters. The clash and the casualties recorded has affected preparations for the local government elections as some ad-hoc staff deployed for the elections were not able to get to Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, PLASIEC, to collect election materials. All routes leading to the secretariat of the commission were closed. Also, businesses in both communities were affected, as a PREMIUM TIMES correspondent gathered that most shop owners within the affected areas closed their business for fear of hoodlums taking advantage of the situation to loot shops. The situation has led to intensified security checks within Jos as heavy presence of security operatives can be seen on most streets of Jos.
Post a Comment