From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Less than 48 hours after gunmen killed four people, including a pregnant woman, at Mazat mining site in Fan District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, another five persons have been killed by rampaging gunmen in the same district.
This brings to nine the number of people killed in the district in the last two days.
Our correspondent gathered that the latest incident, which happened on Sunday night, has heightened apprehension of a reprisal in some parts of Plateau, especially in neighbouring local government areas of Jos South, Riyom and Mangu, where similar attacks had killed many residents.
The victims were said to have been ambushed at about 9 pm on Sunday by the gunmen while they were returning to their homes.
Four people were said to have died on the spot, while the fifth victim died while receiving treatment in a hospital.
The Publicity Secretary of Berom Youth Moulders, Rwang Tengwong, who confirmed the incident in a statement in Jos on Monday, described the attack as unfortunate and called for extra vigilance by security agencies and residents.
He specifically called on security agencies to prevent further attacks by intensifying efforts to protect the lives and property of residents in the area.
The latest incident came at a time youths in the area had called on the special security outfit deployed to keep peace in the state, Operation Enduring Peace (OPEP), to rejig its security architecture and map out new strategies to confront the spate of attacks in Berom land.
