Gunmen kill scores in Kebbi, kidnap monarch in Plateau

Gunmen have reportedly killed scores of people in Dan-Kade village, Unashi district of Kebbi State, while a traditional ruler was kidnapped in a separate attack in Plateau State.

Reports claim that an unspecified number of terrorists invaded Dan-Kade village on Sunday night, killing scores of residents, and burning their corpses in the process.

Meanwhile, in a separate attack by gunmen in Vwang District, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, the traditional ruler of the district Da Gyang Balak, has been kidnapped.

The victim was reportedly abducted around 8 pm on Sunday.

It was gathered that the monarch was abducted while driving home along the road near the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru community.

The lawmaker representing Jos South in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Fom Gwattson, confirmed the abduction to PUNCH.

Gwattson said “I have just been informed of the kidnap of one of our traditional rulers, Da Gwom Rwei of Vwang District, Jos South LGA, Da Gyang Balak. From what I was told, he was on his to his palace when some people blocked his vehicle and forcefully took him away around 8 pm last night”.

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“We have a problem at hand in Plateau state regarding kidnapping and abduction of the citizens. The area where they kidnapped the traditional ruler in Vwang District is the same place where another resident was kidnapped about two weeks ago and a ransom of N1m was paid to the kidnappers before they released the young man.

“As lawmakers elected by the people to represent them at the 9th Plateau Assembly, we have done what we are supposed to do to address the problem by passing the anti-kidnapping bill into law which was subsequently signed by Governor Simon Lalong. But who has been tried in Plateau State using that law?.

“It’s just there lying in waste while the people continue to cry over their plight in the hands of abductors. I believe that the government which has the duty to arrest and prosecute those responsible for kidnapping but fails to do it knows what it is doing.

“In Katsina state, over 200 people were killed and nobody said anything. The truth is that the people of Plateau state and indeed Nigerians have entered ‘one chance’ government and unless this Government is booted out of power, the people may continue to suffer the same fate,” he lamented.

By Oluwatobi Odeyinka.

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