By Salim Yunusa
The Presidency has “strongly condemned” the attack on about ninety Muslim travellers, among whom over twenty-two were killed on Saturday Gada Biyu and Rukuba Road along the Jos-Zaria road in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The condemnation is contained in a statement released Saturday by a presidential spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, via his Facebook account.
“The Presidency condemns the attack earlier Saturday on travellers from a religious event in Bauchi, passing through Jos, the Plateau State Capital and regrets the reported deaths of at least twenty-two persons with several others injured in that ambush on their travelling party.
“It is widely known that Plateau State has been one of the states affected by herder-farmer clashes, which have, in a significant way, been curtailed following the intense peace-building efforts of the administration of Governor Simon Lalong,” Garba Shehu said.
President Buhari has ordered security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the attack.
Giving the order, Buhari was quoted as saying, “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.”
Sahelian times has reported that police have confirmed the killing of at least twenty-two Muslim travellers.
However, reports coming from Plateau State afterwards have indicated that the death toll had risen from twenty-two to thirty as more corpses were recovered.
