2 HOUSES, 4 CARS TORCHED

Uneasy calm has enveloped Jos, Plateau State again as people suspected tobe Fulani herdsmen attacked Kuru Jenta village in the early hours of yesterday. The attack left scores of people injured and property worth million of naira destroyed.

The attackers were said to have besieged the village also in Jos South local government area in large numbers in the early hours of Sunday. They were said to have been armed with dangerous weapons including guns, cutlasses and clubs.

According to information gathered, on arrival at the village, the attackers released several gunshots into the air to scare the people out of their houses just as it was done at Dogo NaHauwa and in Byei village in Riyom Local Government Area. But based on the experience of the previous attacks, the people stayed put in their homes and refused to go out while making calls to the security agencies to come to their rescue.

It was further gathered that before the arrival of the military men at the scene, some of the attackers had gained entry into the houses of former managing director of the Nigerian Mining Corporation, Mr. Davou Timothy Pwarjok and the former Commissioner of mineral resources, Engr. Markus Pwarjok, both brothers and sprayed their houses with bullets and set them ablaze.

The prompt arrival of men of the Joint Task Force, however, saved the situation as they put out the fire, after engaging the attackers in a fierce gun duel.

Members of the two families along with others whose houses were attacked escaped with various degrees of injuries, while the district head of the area also suffered injuries.

The incident had left many of the houses in the village bullet-ridden even though no death was recorded.

The operation officer of Operation Save Haven, Brigadier Kayode Ogundele who confirmed the incident said no life was lost during the invasion but that some people sustained injuries.

Ogundele, who also confirmed that two houses and four vehicles were burnt, noted that the attackers who came in large numbers had good knowledge of the environment.

He added that the house of the chief in the area was not torched because of the presence of military men around the house Ogundele advised the people to report suspicious movement within their vicinity to the police.

In Jenta Kuru, some people were allegedly killed on January 7 and bodies thrown into a well.