Palpable fear gripped residents of Dong village, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State after gunmen attacked a mining site, killing four persons.
The gunmen stormed the mining site on Saturday and shot the workers dead, a situation that forced the State Police Command to deploy more personnel to the troubled community.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Gabriel Ubah, said the deployment is to forestall the breakdown of law and order.
The police spokesman stated that the command has begun investigations with a view to arresting the perpetrators of the crime.
“Yes, the command is aware of the incident at Dong,” he said when asked if the police authorities are aware of the attack.
“The police immediately raced to the scene. Unfortunately, four persons who went to a mining site were killed by yet to be identified gunmen. Security has been beefed up in the area.
“Meanwhile, an investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances surrounding their death and to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act.”
Meanwhile, the member representing Jos South/Bassa federal constituency in the National Assembly, Dachung Musa Bagos, has condemned the incident, describing it as inhumane.
The lawmaker in a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Danja Dafwam Yaks, said the incident has raised concerns over the readiness of security agencies in tackling the guerilla-style of attacks which has been ongoing for two decades.
“I am angry and enraged by the daily killings within and around my constituency. I want to state emphatically that I will continue to talk about these callous attitudes of known criminals amongst us until they are all gotten rid of finally,” he said.
He equally asked the federal and state governments to charge security agencies to tackle more seriously as a matter of urgency the insecurity around the state and country at large.
