Sophia Michaels
A survivor of the Christmas Eve attacks on three communities in Plateau State has recounted the heartbreaking story of losing three relatives in the assault.
The victim, whose identity was kept anonymously, spoke to a team of Middle Belt Patriots that visited Internally Displaced Persons camps in the affected communities of Mangu, Bokkos, and Barkin-Ladi on Wednesday.
The video of the visit and interview was shared by an X user, Kangyang Pwayok, on Thursday.
One of the houses burnt by the attackers. PHOTO CREDIT: Kangyang Pwajok (X)
The victim, a resident of the Mangu community, while narrating the incident, disclosed that the attackers killed his mother and two brothers, one of whom was mutilated and left headless.
“On the 24th of December, around 7.30 pm or 7.45 pm, we started hearing gunshots nonstop. The attackers sent everyone out. My mother, while trying to escape, was hit by a bullet in the chest.
“Then, my junior brother, they macheted him, and another of my brother, after he was killed, they mutilated him. We have to bury him without the head (sic),” he narrated.
He added that contrary to some reports that the attack was orchestrated by fellow Mangu residents, he said the attackers thronged their village in over 30 motorcycles, killing his people and burning down houses.
Meanwhile, the X user, Pwayong who was part of the Middle Belt Patriots delegation shared images of the deplorable living conditions in some of the IDP camps.
Some of the IDPs sleep on the floor of classrooms used for makeshift camp. CREDIT: Kangyang Pwajok (X).
In one of the images, the IDPs were sleeping on the floor of classrooms that have been turned into a makeshift camp for them.
According to Pwayok, the IDPs have been depending on donations from individuals for food.
“They cook and eat once a day (sometimes they don’t even have food at all in a day) and depend on donations from individuals. Most of the parents had gone out to look for food when our team arrived so we met mostly children,” she posted.
The IDPs depend on individual donations for food. PHOTO CREDIT: Kanyang Pwajok (X).
Over 150 persons were reportedly killed and over 10,000 displaced in the December attack that has been described by North Central governors as similar to the Rwanda genocide.
Though the Federal Government has promised to bring the perpetrators to justice, the state governor, Caleb Muftwang, disclosed that the attacks were well coordinated and executed with heavy weaponry, and unraveling the masterminds was beyond him.
