Gunmen kill at least 51 in Plateau’s Zike Kimakpa, burning homes and injuring many in a fresh wave of violence targeting rural communities

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t least 51 people have been killed and several others injured following a brutal attack by gunmen on Zike Kimakpa community in Kwall District, Irigwe Chiefdom, within Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

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The assailants stormed the community in the early hours of Monday, opening fire on residents and setting numerous homes ablaze, according to local sources.

Confirming the attack, the Secretary General of the Irigwe Development Association (IDA), Danjuma Dickson Auta, said the gunmen began shooting sporadically just before dawn.

“So far, we have recovered the bodies of 45 victims,” Auta told journalists during a telephone interview, adding that many residents sustained varying degrees of injury.

Wakili Tongwe, a community leader in Kwall, corroborated Auta’s account in an interview with Channels Television.

He noted that the village vigilante group had been patrolling a different area when the gunmen struck, leaving the community vulnerable.

Tongwe said that at least 36 people were killed on the spot before security operatives managed to repel the attackers. Some of the injured later died in hospital.

Security agencies have yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident. However, the attack has drawn sharp reactions from state officials.

Speaking on the violence, Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joyce Ramnap, expressed concern over the repeated targeting of rural communities in the state.

“It is sad that in less than two weeks after our people were killed in Bokkos Local Government, this sad incident is reoccurring in another community in Bassa Local Government,” she said.

This latest massacre comes just days after a similar attack in Bokkos LGA, where over 50 people lost their lives, highlighting an alarming escalation in rural violence across Plateau State.

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Local leaders and civil society groups have called for urgent and sustained security interventions to prevent further loss of lives and restore peace to the affected communities.