No fewer than eight persons were killed when gunmen stormed Chicim community of Mangu Local Council Area of Plateau State.
Sources said three persons, who sustained injuries, were receiving treatment. The gunmen stormed the community, which is just a kilometre from Mangu town, at about 10.00 p.m. on Tuesday night and started shooting sporadically.
A resident of the community, Kespan Iliya, told newsmen that residents of the community were asleep when the gunmen arrived and started shooting at anything in sight.
Meanwhile, over 96 houses have been razed in Gyenbwas, a community in Langai district of Mangu.
Efforts to reach security operatives and relevant authorities to get more information were abortive.
Sources, however, said that the troops of the Special Task Force, Operation Safe Haven, acting on distress calls from locals, swiftly mobilised to Chicim Village around 10.00 p.m., where they engaged the attackers in a gun battle and successfully forced them to retreat into the surrounding bushes.
Shortly after the initial response, troops received additional alerts from other communities in Mangu experiencing similar assaults. Reinforcements were immediately deployed, and the military successfully repelled the attackers in all affected areas.
Sources on the ground confirmed that two lifeless bodies were recovered at separate locations in the aftermath of the attacks and have been evacuated to the General Hospital in Mangu.
Sources familiar with the operation said patrols had been intensified across the local government area to deter further violence and reassure residents.
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