Tragedy struck Adu village in Kwal District of Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State, as gunmen launched a deadly attack, resulting in the loss of nine lives.
Nuhu Bitrus, the spokesman for the Miango Youths Development Association, confirmed the unfortunate incident while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Jos.
According to him, the gunmen invaded the village on Sunday night around 9 p.m.
Bitrus expressed his sorrow at the loss of lives and revealed that the attack had forced the community to cancel its scheduled activities for Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary celebration.
Instead, the community decided to turn the event, originally planned for Monday, into a day of mourning and prayer for the safety of its people.
He lamented, “We are not happy that we are today mourning the deaths 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 63rd independence, we are gathering in Kwal to bury our people.
“As a community, we had planned to celebrate Nigeria’s 63rd independence 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.”
Bitrus urged governments at all levels to take decisive action to prevent further attacks on Bassa communities.
As of the time of reporting, Alabo Alfred, the spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, could not be reached for comment on the incident.