The military says herder militia, cattle rustling and a combination of other factors are responsible for the crisis which has engulfed the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, stated this on Thursday while addressing a news conference in Abuja on the activities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

He, however, said special forces have been deployed to hot spots in the state to contain the situation.

General Buba said, “The situation was triggered by a number of factors including the attempted cattle rustling and the killing of a Mangu man by herder militia.”

He said It was reported that the man riding on a motorcycle along the road ran into a herd of cattle crossing the road on the 22nd of January 2024.

“The herders reportedly killed the man on the spot. Consequently, militia mobilised and attacked residents in the early hours of 23rd of January,” he said.

General Buba added that the Defence Headquarters would meet with the Chairman of the Christian Association Of Nigeria in the local government, Revd Timothy Daluk, over his recent comment accusing the military of supervising the killings of Christians and the destruction of properties in the state.

Over 30 persons were killed with many injured and many houses burnt when assailants attacked Kwahaslalek village, a community in the Mangu Local Government Area. Governor Caleb Mutfwang has since imposed a curfew on the LGA.

Mwaghavul Development Association President, Joseph Gwankat, said the attack occurred on Tuesday night while residents assembled at a compound in the village to observe the curfew imposed on the local government by the government.

Two other communities of Kinat and Mairana on the borders of Mangu and Barkin Ladi local government areas were also attacked same night.

Plateau State has been badly hit by blood-thirsty marauders of late with over 200 killed during Christmas Eve attacks in the Bokkos and the Barkin Ladi local government areas. Many houses and farmlands were also burnt in the overnight attacks and scores were injured.

The coordinated killings in communities in the two local governments attracted local and international outrage with the governor lashing on the military for tardy response and describing the killings as a carnage.

Over 50 villages were said to be affected by the attacks with the United Nations urging the Federal Government to do a thorough probe into the incidents. (Channels TV, excluding headline)

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