A woman, who lost eight family members in the April 9th attack by suspected Fulani militia in Mbwelle village, Kwatas district of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, has accused soldiers sent to the area of guarding cows belonging to herdsmen and abandoning the people they were meant to protect.
The distraught woman, who made the allegations in a video shared on social media by conflict journalist, Kim Masara Usman on Sunday, said when the attackers invaded the village, the frightened residents made frantic calls to the troops under the Operation Ensuring Peace task force hoping they would come to their rescue.
However, according to the woman, the soldiers never came to their rescue for the duration of the attack which lasted over two hours.
She further said, to the surprise of the invaded community, it was later discovered that a gun truck belonging to Sector 5 of the OPEP task force was seen positioned in front of a Fulani settlement where the attackers had retreated to after they had carried out the invasion.
“When the Fulani killers came to our village that night and started shooting at the people, our youths and elders called the soldiers who were stationed less than three kilometers away.
“We pleaded with them to come to our aid but they refused to come,” she said.
“The Fulani killers were shouting `Allah Akbarʼ and shooting at our people for more than two hours but the soldiers did not come. They came into our house and killed eight of my family members including my brother’s wife who was pregnant.
“How wicked could they be? They killed my father, my brothers, and my young nephews. What did these people do to them to deserve such a death?
“In the end, we lost over 20 people. When the Fulani killers left, we discovered that they ran to Korong, one of the villages that they had earlier chased the people away from and forcibly occupied.
“As if that was not enough, we later realized that the soldiers had stationed their gun truck in front of Korong thereby providing security for the Fulani people while leaving innocent people open to attack,” the woman lamented.
