Plateau Governor Simon Lalong on Sunday ordered the immediate imposition of a 24-hour curfew in Jos North to prevent a further escalation of security threats in the area after 22 passengers were killed.
“From 2pm of today, Sunday 15th August 2021, a 24-hour curfew will come into effect in Jos North Local Government Area,” Lalong’s spokesman, Dr. Makut Simon Macham, declared in a statement on Sunday
“This is necessitated by security reports which indicate rising threats to the safety of lives and properties within the Local Government.
“The Governor therefore urges citizens to abide by the curfew and remain indoors to allow security agencies maintain law and order and deal with those bent on causing chaos.
“The Governor says the 24-hour curfew in Jos North Local Government will remain in force until further notice.
“Again, citizens are to note that the 24-hour curfew in Jos North will take effect from 2pm today 15th August 2021,” the statement concluded.
Twenty-two persons were killed around 9.28am on Saturday when a group of angry youths attacked a convoy of five buses on Rukuba Road in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Fourteen passengers received injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The carnage has shaken Nigeria, from the Presidency to government houses in faraway Ondo State, where many of the victims were said to be travelling from. They were returning to Ikare in Ondo State from the annual Zikr prayer in Bauchi State.
The attack on the buses took place during the burial of six farmers killed by suspected herdsmen in the state recently.
The names of the farmers were given as Timothy Yakubu, 45; Theresa Yakubu, 67; Sarah Ishaya, 42; David Darasi, 37; Yakubu Francis, 21; and Irimiya Audu, 35.
Reports said they were killed by suspected herdsmen who attacked their Nche-Tahu village in the Bassa Local Government Area of the state.
According to media reports, while their bodies were being taken from the Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos, a protest was said to have broken out among the villagers, families and relations of the dead.
According to reports, the protests turned violent at the Rukuba Road axis of Jos North Local Government Area, and in that process the buses in which the victims were travelling were shot at by the angry youths, who suspected the occupants of the buses to be Fulani herdsmen.
Ubah Ogaba, the spokesperson for the Plateau State Police Command confirmed the incident.
“On 14/08/2021 at about 0928hrs, the Plateau State Police Command received a distress call that a group of attackers and their sympathisers along Rukuba Road of Jos North Local Government Area attacked a convoy of five buses returning from the annual Zikr prayer in Bauchi State and heading for Ikare in Ondo State,” he said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, 22 persons were killed and 14 injured in the attack,” he explained.
Similarly, the Military Information Officer for Operation Safe Haven, Major Ishaku Takwa, said in a a statement that: “This morning, our troops swiftly responded to distress calls that suspected hoodlums blocked a junction along Rukuba Road in the Jos North Local Government Area and attacked some commuters. Troops immediately mobilised to the scene and restored normalcy.
“Unfortunately, some persons lost their lives in the incident, while others with varying degrees of injury have been evacuated to a medical facility for care.
“So far, 12 suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident and troops are on the trail of others who took part in the heinous act. Those arrested are currently in custody for interrogation.”
Worried by the loss of lives, President Muhammadu Buhari, who returned to Nigeria from Britain on Saturday, gave marching orders the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.
Buhari’s order was contained in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, with the title, ‘
“Make no mistake about it: in line with my commitment to protect all Nigerians, I have ordered our security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of this gruesome massacre of innocent travellers and bring them to justice,” Shehu quoted Buhari as saying.
“These kinds of attacks on our country’s citizens are unacceptable, heinous, and stand in complete contradiction to the teachings of the great religions of our nation,” he added.
On his part, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, had asked residents of the state to refrain from embarking on revenge attacks.
Also, the Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), called on residents of his state to be calm, saying the victims, who were returning to the state, were mistakenly attacked.
“I have spoken with my brother governor in Plateau and he has assured me that the situation is under control. I want to plead with our people to remain calm,” he said in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Richard Olatunde.
