Five suspects, one soldier killed as Nigerian forces battle attackers of Plateau community

Nigerian security forces announced on Monday that they killed the suspected perpetrators of the recent killings in Plateau State.

The special task force on Jos crisis, tagged Operation Safe Haven, said it shot and killed five persons suspected to be assailants who attacked and killed 19 persons in Ancha, a village in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Adamu Umar, media officer of the task force, said, “Apart from the five persons that were killed by our men, some were injured.”
He said one of the members of task force died in the encounter while another was injured but added that he was responding to treatment.

Mr. Umar, a captain in the Nigeria Army, revealed that the entire Ancha village is still dominated by members of the task force who have since commenced day and night patrol and are combing the area in search of the remaining assailants.

The killing in Ancha is the first of such in Plateau in several months.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the killings with residents and the police saying it was likely carried out by Fulani herdsmen in retaliation for the death of a Fulani boy.
President Muhammadu Buhari has since condemned the attack, and urged security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators.