Nine persons were on Monday confirmed dead after gunmen attacked Adu village in Kwal District of Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State.

The spokesman for the Miango Youths Development Association, Nuhu Bitrus, confirmed the death of the villagers to The PUNCH in Jos on Monday.

“Yes, nine persons were killed yesterday (Sunday) in an attack in Adu village. It happened around 9pm,” Bitrus stated.

He said the attack had led the community to cancel its activities earlier planned for the celebration of Nigeria’s63^rdanniversary and had instead, turned the event slated for Monday (today) into a day of mourning and prayer for the safety of the people.

The youth leader added, “We are not happy that we are today mourning the death of nine of our people in Adu village who were killed last night (Sunday ) in an attack.

“It is unfortunate that while others are celebrating Nigeria’s 63^rdindependence, we are gathering in Kwal to bury our people. As a community, we had planned to celebrate Nigeria’s 63^rdindependence celebration today (Monday) with a lot of activities but we are not doing that anymore. We have turned the event into a prayer day for the safety of our communities.”

The youth leader called on the government at all levels to stop further attacks in Bassa communities.

As of the time of filing this report, the spokesman for the Plateau state Police Command, Alabo Alfred, could not be reached when contacted for reaction on the incident. (The PUNCH)