By John Moses
At least three members of the same family were killed and two others seriously wounded in a brutal attack on farmers in Te’ebbe, a rural community in Miango district, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The victims, who were reportedly harvesting tomatoes on their farmland, were ambushed by unidentified assailants on the same day a state-appointed peace committee was engaging local leaders in Bassa on how to resolve the region’s long-standing communal crises.
The attack, which occurred on Monday, has sent shockwaves through the state. According to witnesses, the victims—three women and two men—all belonged to one family. The two male survivors sustained critical injuries and were immediately evacuated to Jos for emergency medical attention.
Members of the media, who were accompanying the Plateau State Government’s fact-finding committee at the time, witnessed the aftermath, including the evacuation of the bodies.
“This is one of the saddest days of my life,” said General Rogers, the committee chairman. “We were at the local government secretariat discussing peace-building strategies when news of the killings reached us. We rushed to the scene and discovered three lifeless bodies—young, innocent women. One man was clinging to life, and another had already been taken for treatment.”
He appealed to the local Irigwe youth to remain calm and not resort to retaliatory violence, urging them to allow security agencies to handle the situation professionally.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani visited the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna to meet survivors of an earlier attack in Mangu Local Government Area, also in Plateau State.
The victims, who are Kaduna State indigenes, had reportedly travelled to attend a wedding in Quan Pan when the incident occurred. During his hospital visit, Governor Sani pledged full medical and psychological support to the survivors and vowed that those responsible would face justice.
“Some arrests have already been made, and investigations are ongoing. We will not rest until every perpetrator is brought to book,” Sani said via his official social media channels.
