A wave of devastating attacks by unknown gunmen left eight people dead and two injured in two separate areas of the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State on Tuesday.

FIJ learnt that the attackers, estimated to be around five, first killed six people and injured two others in Daffo after shooting at unsuspecting victims indiscriminately.

Kefas Mallai, a youth leader in Bokkos, told FIJ that eyewitnesses said the unknown gunmen arrived without raising suspicion before launching their attacks on the people in Daffo at 7 pm.

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“The people did not suspect them because they came in like normal people do. But after some time, they started shooting at people and fled. We still do not know why they attacked us, but the natives are pointing their accusatory fingers at the herders because the victims were farmers and natives of the area,” Mallai told FIJ on Wednesday.

In a separate but similar incident in Zarat, a community in Bokkos, unknown gunmen killed two people around 9 pm. According to Mallai, some unknown gunmen got off their motorcycles and started shooting at people in the community. After they had killed two people, they then escaped, Mallai said.

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“No one knew why they came, and there was no tension for anyone to suspect that they had a mission until they were done. After they opened fire, they escaped. They didn’t even wait,” Mallai added.

When FIJ called Alfred Alabo, the Plateau State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), for comments on the matter, he said that the police were aware of the incidents and that FIJ should wait for the police’s press release.

Meanwhile, operatives attached to the Plateau State Police Command killed one suspected armed robber during a shootout with armed criminals on August 29 in Bokkos, according to a report.

The police claimed a gun battle ensued between the officers and some criminals after they opened fire on its patrol vehicle. Others escaped into the forest and the policemen settled for one criminal whom they branded a suspected robber.
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